Inescapable Fate Pt 1
by Kiyoko Misaki-chan
Summary: Akira Shirogane, a boy in junior high. What had happened in his past that made him so distrustful? And what will happen in the near future? A interesting story about what happens when you get caught up in a messy situation: the Mafia. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

Hey everyone~

Inescapable Fate is about the mafia, friends and family all mixed in together for an adventure. I hope you enjoy it~ I'll try my best with the vocab and grammer so go easy on me please. ^^  
>This is my first story I've written so please do review it~ Thanks!<p>

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><p><strong>The Prologue<strong>

The sky started to turn different shades of pink, purple and orange, like paint splashed across the never-ending sea of clouds. The setting sun felt comfortably warm and the evening breeze gently swept against my skin. As I stared up at the drifting clouds, the pain in my chest continued to intensify. It continued to burn as though there was a fire that was blazing in my body. I guess as much as I wanted to avoid this, it was inevitable: This life, meeting all these people. I could hear distant voices shouting, but I couldn't differentiate the voices too clearly. My breaths came out in short gasps as I stared into space and my mind drifted back to the day everything began.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The Beginning**

"Noooo!" I jerked upright on my bed, clasping the blankets so tightly my nails dug into the palm of my hand. Closing my eyes, I wiped off the beads of sweat on my forehead.

"Not _that_ nightmare again..."

I sighed before pushing the blankets aside and getting out of bed. I walked to the windows to draw the curtains open, squinting at the bright light that shone through the clear glass. With a yawn, I opened the windows and felt the cool morning breeze blow through my hair. Chirping from birds in a nearby tree drifted through the window. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and let out another yawn. Lately, I have been dreaming the same nightmare again and again. I get so frightened that I cannot get enough sleep, and what's worse is that it's not just any random nightmare, but an incident that happened in my past which I'd rather not recall.

My name is Akira Shirogane and I'm 15 this year. I was born in Japan on July the 17th, making me Japanese by birth. However, I am one-quarter European. My father is half Japanese and half European. My mother on the other hand is Japanese nobility and her family is extremely wealthy. Both of them grew up in Japan, went to the same junior high and high school, later got married in Japan, and then I was added to the family. I go to the same school they went to: Seishou Academy. Seishou Junior High to be accurate, which is one of the top schools in Tokyo. Seishou Junior High and Seishou High School were all a part of Seishou Academy and linked by affiliation. I've lived in Tokyo for as long as I can remember. When I was younger, people used to call me cute, until I grew up and had a personality change. Personally, I hate being called cute. I'm a guy and a guy isn't supposed to be called cute. Well, whatever. Enough about me.

I locked up and started on my walk to school. The morning sun felt warm and nice on my skin. As I started to walk along the sidewalk, a car drove past and I caught a glimpse of a student wearing the Seishou Academy uniform inside. I watched it until it turned a corner and disappeared from my sight. Lucky them... Unlike the other students who get sent to school by car, I have to walk. If you're wondering why, it's because my parents work overseas due to their jobs. That's the reason why I live alone in an apartment near my school. Now that I think about it, I don't really know my parents that well. I'm not very close to them since they left to work overseas when I was still a small child. I only get to see them once or twice a year and they just visited last month. I vaguely recall them being some kind of scientists or something like that. Honestly, we don't even seem close to what you would call a family. We were hardly ever together. However, I still loved them like any child would love their parents.

Their reason for me staying in Japan is because they want me to grow up like a normal Japanese boy. Except, that's a little hard. Close to impossible actually. I forgot to mention one thing about me. Although I have reddish-brown hair and other features like a normal Japanese boy, my oriental blue eyes make me stand out, _a lot_. Furthermore, I am rather short and small sized for my age. These are hardly what a _normal_ Japanese boy would have and they cause me to draw a lot of unwanted attention. I really hate it when people stare at me just because I'm different. I don't get why people like to attract the attention of others so much. I'd rather curl up in a corner where no one notices me. For your information, I just prefer to be without the company of others. Less to deal with, if you get what I mean. I get a lot of alone time at home, so that's fine. In school, however, my teachers always pick me to answer difficult questions. By the way, that by itself is completely weird. I'm a student, they're the teacher. Why do they think I know everything? The only reason I could think of, which is probably correct, is that they think I know practically everything is because my parents were top students here in the past. Although it could also be because I'm always top of the level, so I always get picked on to answer the questions. Hey, I'm not bragging.

"Akira! Hey, wait up!" Rui shouted from across the road.

Rui Ryuuzaki is my best friend and also one of the top 10 students, even though he is always goofing off in class. He is the type of guy every girl wished would notice her. Rui was tall, masculine enough and handsome. What else can I say, when I stood next to him, people could mistake me for a girl. Rui caught up with me in a few strides and tapped on my shoulder. I turned around to face him and noticed his usual lop-sided grin. I couldn't begin to fathom how he could be so cheerful in the morning (I wasn't a morning person). As we walked past a group of girls gossiping, they stared at us and giggled.

"Ughh." I groaned. I

hated it when they did that. I didn't like the girls in general for one and only one reason; they were really crazy when it came to guys, especially the top 10 best looking guys.

The minute Rui and I stepped into the school, squealing and giggling from girls could be heard. Like I described earlier, Rui was good looking and was the most popular guy in school; the girls even have a fan club for him. There was a weird system in this school that the girls came up with. They had the best-looking guys ranking, also known as GR. Rui was obviously number 1. I was ranked 3 in the GR, I think.

As Rui and I walked in, I overheard two girls whispering. "Look! It's Rui and Akira. They look soo awesome. No wonder their top 3 in the GR..."

I sighed and blocked out the noise. I have absolutely no idea why they would get so excited and I don't intend to comprehend their weird little minds. In fact, I don't understand how anyone could stand that kind of attention. Rui seemed to handle it a lot better than me though. He was grinning and waving at all the girls. If there's one thing Rui loved, it was getting everyone's attention. He loved it more than anyone else I knew and it was just a part of his happy-go-lucky character. I found it weird that I could even 'click' well with him despite our opposite personalities, like north and south poles on a magnet. Then again, north and south poles attract each other. However, despite our differences, we are best friends and he is the only friend I had in the same year as me. Why? Because I didn't bother to interact with the other students in my class; they're probably scared of my always expressionless face anyway, like I was wearing a mask.

"Remember it's your brother's birthday today so come home early okay?" A mother shouted from the car at the gate to her son.

Suddenly, my nightmare replayed in my head again and I instinctively covered my eyes with my hands. The words 'brother' and 'birthday' kept ringing in my head.

"Hey Akira, you okay?" I could hear Rui's voice right beside me but at the same time, it seemed like it was so far away.

I tried to tell him I was okay, but only air came out of my mouth. My breathing was accelerated and I was covered in cold sweat, however, as much as I wanted to, I couldn't move. My heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest and the ringing in my ears wouldn't stop. The feeling was unbearable.

Rui started to shout worriedly beside me, "Hey, Akira! Akira! Akira..." And then everything went black and his voice disappeared.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Friends**

A white ceiling and a strong smell of alcohol greeted me when I opened my eyes. I tried to sit up, but winced and fell back onto the bed. My head was throbbing and I couldn't even think straight.

"Dang, what happened? I feel like a wreck." I mumbled to myself.

After what seemed like 5 minutes, my mind cleared and I realised that this was the school's infirmary. There was a lot of noise coming from outside the infirmary door. Suddenly, it got a lot noisier.

"Akira!" The door swung open and Rui came running in.

I stared at his flushed face and couldn't help but laugh.

"Wh... What?" Rui stammered. "I was worried about you. The school nurse said you could return to class once you felt better. We're having a free period now so I came to see how you're doing." He paused to look at me, then continued "So, how are you feeling?"

"I feel a lot better. Thanks." I smiled at him, forgetting my surroundings.

High pitched screams erupted in the corridor.

"What the hell? Dammit! I totally forgot about them." I stared at the group of girls outside the infirmary.

I only caught some of what they said. "Did you see that? He smiled." "I can't believe Akira smiled." "He always has that angry face on, who knew his smile was so cute."

I took the pillow from behind me and covered my head. This is _so_ embarrassing. I completely forgot about the girls outside. I've never really smiled because ever since I lost my brother when I was 6, I could only smile in front of Rui. Other than that, I've never let my guard down in front of anyone except for Rui and his younger sister, Rukia. They have been my friends for as long as I can remember. In front of anyone else, I put on an expressionless mask.

"My life is over..." I muttered.

"Aw come on, don't be so melodramatic." Rui patted me on the shoulder while laughing.

When Rui and I entered our classroom, everyone stared at us; actually, everyone seemed to be staring at me, not Rui. The girls in the corner were giggling and some other students were whispering in the corner. Word spreads fast in this school. Rui looked at me and shot me a comforting smile. He dragged me to my desk, right beside his, and made me sit down.

"Ignore them." Rui told me as he sat on the top of his desk.

"Er... Yeah, sure. Easier said than done." I stared down at my empty desk.

I could hear everything the other students were saying. Everyone was probably talking about me and now I was the centre of attention. Great... The thing I hated most: attention. I folded my arms on the table and rested my head on it. A sigh escaped from my mouth as I closed my eyes.

"Hey, what was that sigh for?" Rui was looking at me curiously when I opened my eyes to look at him.

"Nothing. Forget it." Our teacher came in then and Rui moved to sit on his chair.

"Class, as you all know, the school is going to hold a carnival next week and our year will be in the races. Every class has to compete in the relay." Our teacher announced.

"Aww man." "Why us?" Everyone in class was complaining and moaning.

"Quieten down. Thus, we will be holding a nomination for today's class." Mr Yoshina tried to get the class' attention. "Shirogane-kun? Ryuuzaki-kun? Would the two of you like to be in the relay?"

I looked up to see our teacher expecting an answer.

"I, er, have to think about it. Maybe Rui would be a better choice." I said before turning to look out the window.

"Akira's so cool." "No, don't you think he's so adorable." "I love his blue eyes!" "Kawaii!" Two girls behind me started to whisper and I purposely rolled my eyes so they could see I was annoyed.

It didn't seem to work as they giggled even more.

"Sure! I get to show off my awesome running abilities." Rui grinned and the class laughed.

"Right, let's start to nominate other runners." Mr Yoshina raised his voice so everyone talking kept quiet.

When class was about to end, the nominations came to a close. Out of all the students in the class, I had to get chosen as one of the class representatives. Great. Couldn't get any better.

"Ryuuzaki-kun, Shirogane-kun, Ishida-kun, Kanta-kun, and Fuji-kun. The five of you will be our class' representatives." Mr Yoshina smiled.

Why was I not surprised that the students chosen to run the interclass relay from our class were in the top 10 GR. I was just that unlucky.

"Isn't this great? We get to run the relay together." Rui immediately said happily after class ended.

"I guess..." I leaned my head against my right hand to face him.

Rui read my expression then said, "Well, it couldn't get any worse right?"

I shrugged.

"Would you, erm, like to join us for, like, lunch?" A few girls stuttered nervously while staring at the floor.

I simply turned to stare out the window again. I didn't talk to anyone besides Rui in class, especially not the girls.

"Sorry, we're not very hungry. Besides, Akira doesn't seem to be feeling very well. Maybe another time." Rui answered politely like he always did when it came to girls.

He was like prince charming from a fairytale, and I was like the grumpy brother.

When they left, I looked at Rui and muttered, "Who's not feeling well, huh?"

Rui started to laugh. "Sorry, it seemed like you didn't want the extra company so I declined the offer. Unless I'm wrong?" He said teasingly.

"Hmph, you wish." I muttered and punched him playfully.

I could always be myself around Rui. He made it so easy. I looked around the class to make sure it was empty before I gave him a smile.

As we walked to the slope by the school field to lie on the grass like we always do, Rukia, Rui's younger sister, came running towards us.

"Hey Nii-san! Hey Akira! I was looking for you guys."

Rui turned around to wave at her. Rukia caught up and behind her was another girl.

"This is my friend Mei Yukimura." She introduced.

"H...Hi." The girl looked so scared like she would run off any second.

"Don't worry, he's not gonna eat you, it's just his normal face." Rui laughed as he poked my cheek.

I glared at him and punched him in the arm.

"Although, he packs quite a punch." Rui continued laughing as he rubbed his arm.

Rukia laughed also, and then I noticed Mei giggle. I couldn't help but smile. When I did, Mei stared at me and I immediately wished I hadn't smiled. She probably thinks I'm weird.

"You have a nice smile so you should smile more. You'd look less scary too." Mei smiled shyly at me.

Wait. What?

I felt my face go red and I quickly looked away.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Gangsters**

Class dragged on and as soon as the end-of-the-day school bell rang, Rui followed me out of the classroom and down the stairs to the school gate.

"Is Rukia coming?" I asked Rui and he nodded with a silly grin.

I heard running footsteps behind us and then a voice, "Wait for me! You're always too fast."

Rukia caught up with us and started panting.

"Well, you're looking at two professional athletes here." Rui joked.

We weren't really athletes at all but we were pretty good when it came to sports. I saw Mei walk up behind Rukia, "Can I go with you?"

She looked at me and I felt awkward since other students didn't usually come up to me and talk to me. Basically, I was not used to conversations other than with Rui or Rukia.

"Erm... Yeah, sure." I turned around and started to walk out of school. Rui followed behind me, laughing at the way I had responded.

"Hey, check out those guys." I heard a girl across the road saying to her friend.

Even after school, we still stood out. I turned away with a groan and Rui gave them a slight smile before walking off. I heaved my bag over my shoulders as we walked northwards.

"Where are we going?" Mei asked curiously.

It was Rukia who answered. "Our house! Akira always comes over after school. Well, not always but most of the time though." She grinned. She looked a lot like her brother when she smiled like that.

"Konnichiwa Mrs Ryuuzaki." I called from the doorway.

Rui and Rukia's mother came out from the kitchen smiling. "Youkoso! Hello Akira. And I see you brought a new friend."

She was a very pleasant and sociable person, always welcoming guests. Plus I've known her since I was a small boy. Rui and Rukia greeted her before leading us up to Rui's room where we sat down on the floor. Rukia left the room and came back later with a tray of cakes and drinks. We each took one and started to talk before doing our homework, as usual. Mei stayed silent until Rukia asked her what she normally did after school. That was a huge mistake.

Mei started to shake as she whispered, "I... I don't usually go anywhere. I run straight home after school. There's this group of bullies that will come after me on my way home every time. However, if I quickly leave for home after school, I won't run into them."

I looked at her again and decided that she was someone who was also suffering in silence. Rui was staring into my eyes when I cast a glance in his direction.

Rui nodded and told Mei, "Don't worry about it, you can join us after school every day if you don't mind."

Mei didn't look comforted even slightly and she started tearing, "When I go home later, they will definitely be waiting for me. Today we were let off slightly later, I was afraid to see them on the way home."

I sat deep in thought for a minute before I said, "If you don't mind, I could walk you home?"

Rui stared in astonishment at me, eyes almost bulging. I could understand why he was surprised. I seldom open up to anyone, but I felt so sorry for her. It was frightening when you can't do anything about something and you have no one to turn to. I knew that feeling and I felt I couldn't leave her like that.

When the clock in Rui's room read 7.05pm, I saw the sun beginning to set outside the window. Packing up my homework, I got up and picked up my bag. I had to get home to cook my dinner and later finish up my homework.

"Bye Rui. Bye Rukia. I have to go now." I walked down the stairs and the three followed behind.

"Sure you don't need me to follow?" Rui asked worriedly.

"What, you starting to become a mom?" I joked and then smiled, "We'll be fine. See you tomorrow."

I headed out the door dragging Mei along. As soon as I realised I was holding her hand, I quickly let go and put my hands in my pocket, "Erm, sorry." I blushed and looked away.

"It's okay." She said before we continued along the path.

"Where do you live? Are you sure it's not out of your way to walk me back?" Mei asked after a few minutes.

"It's fine. I have to walk by this way to get home anyway." Mei gasped just as I finished.

"They're here." She said frantically trying to hide behind me.

That, I thought, was rather stupid as I was small and short. I couldn't hide anybody behind me even if I wanted to. I looked over to the playground on the left and saw a group of ruthless looking guys with weird hairstyles, in my opinion. I noticed that they were wearing school uniforms with sleeves rolled up. If they wanted to tarnish their school name, it was none of my business I guess. They walked over with a grin that didn't seem anywhere close to friendly, in fact, it looked extremely menacing.

"Hey Mei, who's the guy huh?" The man with black hair asked.

He looked very big and heavy, like an elephant. No humour intended there. I figured he was the leader of the gang by the tattoo on his arm. Mei kept quiet, and behind me, I could feel her trembling.

"Calm down." I whispered to her.

"He your boyfriend?" The man asked again, clearly impatient this time.

Apparently he couldn't even speak Japanese properly, which just made my impression of him drop from a zero to a negative figure. The rest of them stood behind watching with humour in their eyes. They reminded me of the bullies in my past. Revolting. I pulled Mei's hand and continued walking. It wouldn't be good to get into a fight now.

"Hey! Don't ignore us! We'll make you sorry!" The man shouted and ran towards us, fist ready to strike.

I clenched my fist and tried to control my rage. Inside my head I repeated: Calm down, walk away from the fight. I cannot start fighting now, especially not now. Suddenly, the man's fist flew past my head as I dodged it and pushed Mei aside.

"Are you scared, little chickens? Careful not to wet your pants." He taunted.

"Stay there." I shouted to Mei.

That's it, I've had enough of this bunch of clowns!

I threw my bag aside and turned around to face the 'elephant' running towards me with his fist up. He was big, but it also meant that he was rather clumsy and slow. I dodged his fist and grabbed his arm. As I turned around, I flipped him over my head and onto the ground. He let out a groan before getting up and trying to punch me again.

Another man, with blonde hair and a pair of spectacles, grabbed my arms and kicked me from behind. With a smirk, I kicked my leg backwards and in his middle which caused him to holler and fall to the ground. The leader took this opportunity when my back was faced towards him to grab my leg and pull it. I fell on my back with a loud thud and my hand quickly moved to block his fist from slamming into my stomach. In that same second, his leg kicked into my side and I heard a sickening crunch. A scream escaped from my mouth.

I quickly kicked his leg from under him and slammed my heel down on his stomach after he fell. He curled up in pain and started to moan. The rest of the group, seeing their leader on the ground, started to run off.

"Cowards..." I muttered.

Mei ran to me as I started to get up. "Are you okay?" She asked anxiously.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said.

But a sharp pain made me wince and fall back onto the ground. "Ouch. Dammit!"

I held the side where I was kicked. It was hurting, really bad. Mei stared at me, clearly worried.

"I'll be fine." I told her as I managed to stand up. "Let's go." I picked up my bag before walking the rest of the way with her.

"Sorry. This is all my fault, if I hadn't asked you to walk me home..." She mumbled with tears in her eyes.

"Hey, I'm fine, okay? So don't start crying. Besides, I offered to walk you home." I interrupted.

Just as I finished talking, we walked up to the gate of her house. I motioned for her to go inside and she nodded before walking into her house and closing the door. I turned around to walk back home, wincing slightly at the pain in my side.

The pain didn't disappear after I got home and bathed. Even after I finished my dinner, it was still throbbing. Before I went to sleep, I took an ice pack and placed it on the side that hurt. When I thought back to the fight, I realised that it was the first in a long time that I got so agitated.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Nightmare**

That night, the same nightmare played in my head. It was when I was 6 years old on the 17 of July, my birthday.

My brother was 8 then, and he was standing beside me. Darkness completely engulfed us. My father and mother were working overseas and our aunt, who was married and had two sons, was taking care of us. She had left the house to shop for groceries and that's when it happened.

In the darkness, scorching orange flames burst forth. There was fire everywhere. I had no idea where it came from but the whole house was ablaze and the swirling thick smoke was choking us. I couldn't stop coughing and the smoke made my throat and eyes sting.

After that, everything seemed to happen so fast and yet, so slow at the same time. My aunt came rushing in, shouting our names. My brother and I saw her and were running towards her when a few men came in from behind her and one of them took out a gun. When I saw them, I screamed to my aunt but she didn't hear me. At first I thought my voice disappeared, but then I realised the crackling of the burning wood completely drained out my voice.

There was a deafening bang and she fell to the ground. I stared in horror as a pool of blood formed around her.

My aunt pointed to the window and managed to say, "Run! Get out of here, quickly. Kazuma, take care of your younger brother... Now go... Hurry..."

Her hand fell to the ground as her eyes closed and her breathing slowed until it came to a stop.

I started to tremble, tears running down my face.

"Nii-san... Why?" I whispered in a voice barely audible.

My brother didn't answer.

The man holding the gun took aim at us and my brother ran forward and slammed into the man holding the gun. The man's gun flew out off his hand and somewhere into the fire.

"Run! Akira, get out of here! I _will_ protect you. Run!" He screamed.

I froze there unable to move.

The man's eyes, reflecting the dancing fire around us, made me frightened. He had blonde hair which reached past his shoulders and covered a part of his face. His eyes were a cold shade of grey that pierced straight through me.

I watched helplessly as he picked my brother up and shouted to the other men, "Let's get outta here. This boy may be useful, but the other boy is useless, let him die."

He carried my struggling and screaming brother away and left me in that furnace. I could hear my brother's screaming slowly fading.

"Let me go! I said let me go! Akira! Akira, get out of there! Don't you dare die! Akira..."

The tattoo of a grim reaper on the man's chest was imprinted clearly into my mind. I tried to run after him but my body refused to move.

Suddenly, a blazing piece of wood fell a few inches behind me and snapped me out of my shock. I ran towards the window and jumped through, glass and all. Just as I jumped out, there was an explosion behind me. I was not too badly hurt as we lived on the second floor. When the authorities found me, I was rushed to the hospital while unconscious. Apparently I suffered a few broken bones, cuts and scratches, but nothing too serious.

When I awoke, I was in a white room, smelling of alcohol and my aunt was in the bed next to mine. We were in a hospital. I overheard the doctor telling a nurse that my aunt was long gone and they couldn't do anything. They were too late. My aunt was shot and my brother was kidnapped because of me. If only I had moved, he would have been able to escape with me.

"Ahhh!" I screamed as my eyes flew open. I jumped up, wincing when I felt the pain in my side. My entire body was covered in cold sweat and my blankets were a mess. That was why I feared fires and hospitals.

The next morning, I met Rui and Rukia on the way to school.

"Hey, Akira. You okay?" Rui asked worriedly.

"Mei called me and told us about the fight you got into yesterday." Rukia added.

I stifled a yawn. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

As soon as I finished, Mei walked up to us and when she saw me, she started to sob, "I'm so sorry Akira. You got hurt because of me. It's my fault that you got injured." Mei mumbled after apologising to me _again_.

Rui stared at me and quickly pulled my shirt up.

"Hey! We're in public you idiot! Let go!" I shouted.

He accidentally knocked the spot I was kicked in and I screamed out in pain. My hands moved to hold my side and I shut my eyes, trying to pace my slightly accelerated breathing.

"Dammit! You got hurt." Rui said punching the wall near us.

Rui was so protective of me and wouldn't forgive himself when I got hurt. He swore to protect me ever since the fire that day and made sure something like that never happened to me again.

"Calm down Nii-san." Rukia said trying to control the situation.

As soon as the pain in my side subsided, I turned towards Rui and said, "Calm down. I just got kicked, that's all. Don't get so worked up. I'm fine."

Rui looked at me with tortured eyes and when I met it, I felt guilty for worrying him like that.

"Sorry. I know I promised you, but I just couldn't let them do what they wanted." I told him, hoping he would understand.

There was a moment of silence.

"You know, I'm not mad at you for breaking your promise of not fighting again. I'm just really worried about you. Don't do something like that again." He said, his voice sounded almost pleading.

"Sorry." I stared down at my shoes not knowing what else to say.

When the bell rang, we walked briskly into class and my expression was back to the usual mask I wore. Rui and I sat down at our desks as the teacher walked in. The lesson started, but I couldn't concentrate. I stared out of the window thinking about my dream. At the end of it, I was chasing after the man and my brother. It was all black and blazing fire danced around me, but no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up. They just got further and further away. Of course, it was just my imagination, it didn't really happen, but it scared me all the same.

Once, a few years back, I searched the internet to seek out information about the man who took my brother. At first, there was hardly any information, however, I eventually managed to find out that the man who took my brother was the leader of a mafia group. The tattoo I saw on his chest was to mark him as the boss. What I couldn't figure out was why he took my brother and left me there to die.

"...gane-kun! Shirogane-kun!" Mr Yoshina stood in front of my desk glaring at me. "If you're done daydreaming, we're going to start getting ready for the carnival."

I looked around the class and noticed all the other students' eyes were on me.

"Haha, it looks like Shirogane is scared of losing the relay. Don't drag us down, shorty." Ikari sniggered.

A few of the girls shot him a look and he instantly kept quiet. Ikari Kanta was a guy in my class and he just hated me for reasons not known to me.

"Everyone, let's go down to the field." Mr Yoshina voice broke through my train of thought.

"Our class' representatives for the relay, come here. The rest, sit down at the spectators stand and watch." Mr Yoshina shouted so that everyone could hear him.

"Looks like we're going to do a run-through." Rui commented as the other classes came towards us.

"Whatever, they can't possibly win against us top students." Ikari taunted.

The other classes' representatives glared daggers at him. Kakeru Kirihara and Chitose Yukiya the student president and vice-president walked up to us.

"Hello. All the best for the race. Too bad we won't be running. We're going to be the MCs for the carnival." They said with a smile.

"Kyaaa! It's Rui-sama and Akira-sama! They're standing right beside each other." "Look, Kakeru-sama and Chitose-sama are talking to them." "It's like heaven..." Girls from the other classes were gawking at us as if we were famous idols. What was with these girls anyway?

"Woah, we're a hit with the ladies aren't we?" Rui elbowed me gently, laughing.

I was relieved that he was back to his usual cheerful self.

The teachers raised their voice to silence all the noise. As soon as it was quiet, the principal who started to talk. "Year 1 and 2 students will be taking care of the other things in the carnival. The year 3s will be running in the races throughout the day. The relay will be the main event which everyone is looking forward to. I expect all of you to do the school proud. Those who are not representatives in races will take the guests around the school. Live up to our school's expectations."

I rolled my eyes as he finished his speech.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Carnival**

"What are you guys doing for the carnival?" Rukia turned towards me and Rui to ask.

It was the morning of the carnival.

"We're our class representatives for the interclass relay." Rui answered.

I nodded when Rukia looked at me.

"Akira's gone into black mode already. And school hasn't even started." Rukia mumbled.

I glared at her until Rui said, "Aww, leave him alone. You know why he's like that. Besides, it's not like he's not Akira anymore." Rui reasoned.

At that moment, we walked past the school gate and saw the other three of our class' representatives. Screaming girls in every corner threatened to make my ears deaf. The three other guys who were also the centre of attention walked over.

"Hey Rui. Hey Akira." Hikaru and Kaoru greeted us.

"Yo!" Rui answered back and then turned to look at me.

He smiled at them before elbowing me gently, whispering, "They said hi you know."

I gave him a pleading look before turning to face the three when he didn't look at me. "Er, hi." I muttered, quickly looking away.

Rukia started to giggle behind us and quickly stopped when I turned to glower at her.

"How's your injury? Can you run later?" Kaoru asked me.

After seeing my puzzled expression, he added, "Rumours spread really quickly in this school."

I sighed. "Oh, it's fine. I guess. I can still run." I replied avoiding eye contact.

"Let's get this carnival started!" The principal announced over the PA system, interrupting our conversation.

I hadn't noticed when I walked into the school, but there were people everywhere; students, teachers, parents and basically people of all age groups. Our school had been completely transformed. Makeshift tents and stalls were put up, banners hung around the school, classrooms transformed into cafes and game rooms and decorations coloured the school.

Rui and I walked around the carnival enjoying ourselves, stopping to watch the races at the field once in a while. In the afternoon, as the main event drew close, more and more people gathered at the field. While the different classes' representatives got ready, a flood of people were gathering on the spectator stand to watch.

"Hey, you okay?" I turned around to see Rui's concerned face.

I suddenly realised I was shaking slightly. Trust him to notice it.

"Yeah, I just hate all the attention."

"Yea, I know." Rui's comforting smile put me at ease immediately.

"Good luck everyone!" The student council president and vice-president stood at the side of the tent's opening.

I admired the student council president, Kakeru Kirihara. He had neat brown hair and a gentle pair of grey eyes. His was a very charismatic and approachable person. Kakeru was friendly to everyone and exceptionally kind.

"Welcome everyone!" The principal's voice rang loud and clear across the field, indicating the start of the main event. "Without further ado, let's start the relay that everyone has been waiting for."

Kakeru took over then, announcing through the microphone, "I hope all of you are had fun so far. I'm Kakeru Kirihara, and I'm your MC for today. You've been hearing my voice over the PA system the whole morning."

Laughter filled the entire school.

"First off, let's invite the top 10 students in our school who will be participating in the race. They have done our school proud by excelling in their studies. Let's put our hands together to welcome them. Starting with number 10 ... ..." Kakeru continued to announce after the laughter died down.

The few students in front of me started to walk out of the tent that was pitched at the corner of the field. The clapping from the spectators sounded like thunder.

"Number 6, Ikari Kanta. Number 5, Kaoru Ishida. Number 4, me, but I will not be participating in the race as I'm your MC for today." Kakeru explained ad then continued, "Number 3, Rui Ryuuzaki. Number 2, Hikaru Fuji. And last but not least, the top student, Akira Shirogane."

I watched as Rui left the tent and as my name was called out, I clenched my fist tightly before stepping out of the tent. There was a large crowd surrounding the field and it frightened me while excited me at the same time. I looked at Rui to see him smiling at me. I ran towards the line of students as rehearsed and stopped behind Hikaru.

"Hey, all the best." Hikaru whispered to me.

"Thanks..." I replied and quickly turned away.

After the top 10 students were introduced, the other runners in the relay were then invited out and when all the representatives stood at their respective positions, the principal announced the start of the interclass relay race. Our team had the fastest runner in it: Rui. He was running in fourth position and I was running in fifth position.

As soon as we stood ready on the track, the pistol at the starting point was fired to begin the race. Kaoru who was the first runner in our team dashed off from the starting and immediately took second place. Girls in the crowd were screaming and cheering for our class. That was obvious, so obvious even I understood. The 5 most popular guys were in our class' relay team, why wouldn't the girls cheer for the top few smartest and good-looking guys? The baton was passed on to Hikaru, who was tripped by the runner beside him and fell. There wasn't a referee and so foul play wasn't caught. Nobody else in the spectators seemed to have seen the other guy trip Hikaru though. By the time he got up and started to run, he was in last place but he managed to catch up somewhat. He passed the baton on to Ikari, who remained in last place. As soon as Ikari passed the baton to Rui, he shot off like a bullet and managed to close the great distance between him and the fourth person, overtaking him.

I shifted into a ready position as Rui got getting closer. The cheering from the spectator's stand got louder. I suppose the girls wanted our team to win, even though I didn't see the point.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the teams in first and second place starting to run. Rui was running tied in third place, he had caught up with the third runner.

I felt Rui place the baton in my hand and he whispered, "Go for it."

My legs instantly kicked off. I sprinted all the way, trying to catch up with the two runners in front of me. They were halfway to the finish and I worried that I couldn't catch up. When I heard the rest of my team, excluding Ikari of course, cheering for me, my doubts disappeared.

Rui shouted, "Go Akira! Show them what we're made of!"

I pushed myself to sprint faster until I caught up with the runner in the second position. We were close to the finish and the first runner was about an arm's length in front of me. Using the last bit of energy I had left, I shot forward and overtook the first runner, barely beating him to the finish line.

At that very second, the crowd erupted into screams. I could hardly hear my panting over all that noise. The staff at the finish line congratulated all the runners and handed towels to us. I wiped my face and neck before falling onto my knees, gasping for air. I had never put in so much effort into races before. To be honest, it felt good to push yourself to the limit.

I always thought it was worthless to put in so much effort since it would be a waste anyway. I guess I could have been wrong.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The Injury**

Rui walked up to me after the noise died down a little and patted me on the back.

"Never seen you run that fast before. Haha. At this rate, you could overthrow my reign." Rui chuckled.

I placed my hands on the ground, preparing to get up. I was about to smile when there was a sharp pain in my side.

"Argh! Ow!" I instantly held my side with one hand and supporting my body with the other hand.

Shutting my eyes tightly, I tried to take deep breaths, only to wince at the pain.

"Akira! Hey, you okay? Akira!" Rui immediately knelt down beside me, one hand supporting me, the other, holding my hand that was on the ground.

I could hear people shuffling and moving around me.

"What's wrong?" Kaoru and Hikaru asked worriedly beside Rui.

"Is he okay? I'll go call the teachers." Kakeru said before running off.

"Hmph, he's probably just trying to get our sympathy and praise for running so hard." Ikari scoffed loudly enough so I could hear.

I wanted to punch him in the face but the pain in my side wouldn't let up.

"Gahhhh!" I screamed before falling to the ground and clutching my side as it continued to throb.

My breaths came out in short gasps.

"Akira! Akira! Dammit, your side is hurting again isn't it? Crap! This wouldn't have happened if I just went with you that day!" Rui said angrily and I could tell that he was very upset.

"It's... fine... Just... give me... a sec..." I panted trying to catch my breath and cringing when the pain got worse.

"Akira!" Rukia and Mei's voice rang clearly over all the noise.

"Call the teachers and an ambulance!"  
>"Someone already did."<br>"What happened?"  
>"Is he okay?"<br>"Give him some space!"  
>"Do you need help?"<p>

I could hear so many people shouting around me. The panic made it harder to think clearly when the pain already made it hard to think at all.

"What a brat. To think..." Ikari didn't have time to finish before I heard a thud on the floor near me.

"What the hell did you punch me for?" He shouted furiously.

"Shut up! What do you know? You have no idea what Akira has been through! Just... shut up!" The voice belonged to Rukia.

I couldn't muster up the strength to look up but I could tell that Rukia was crying when I heard her sniffing.

"Rukia... it's okay... Forget... it... So don't... cry... kay?" I said as loud as I could.

"Don't talk anymore. You'll be fine. Right Rukia?" Rui's voice sounded like it was going to break.

"Yeah..." Rukia answered softly.

Suddenly, darkness clouded my mind and the nightmare began to play in my mind again.

"...kira! Akira! Oi, Akira!" Rui's shouting brought me back from my nightmare.

"Get away from me!" I shouted when I thought that the person over me was the man from my nightmare.

I opened my eyes and saw Rui's hurt face above me. I was resting on his lap and my hand was clinging to his shirt.

"Rui? Omigosh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it. I swear!" I frantically tried to explain to him.

He gazed into my eyes and smiled. I might have imagined it, but I thought I saw a twinge of sadness in his eyes.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it."

"Rui, I'm really sorry. It wasn't you. I was, er, having a... nightmare." I stared at Rui's face apologetically.

"Nightmare?" Rui and Rukia both asked curiously at the same time while the people around me stared.

I hesitantly nodded and then heard Ikari's mocking. "Hah! Nightmare? Little Akira is scared of a nightmare."

I turned to glare at him but when I moved my body, the pain came back.

"Argh! Dammit!" I gripped the closest thing I could grab tightly, wishing the pain would go away. I later realised it was Rui's arm.

In a few short seconds, I heard the wailing of an ambulance.

"They called for an ambulance? I don't need to go to the hospital!" I said frantically.

Rui knew the reason why I hated hospitals so much. He knew my fears of hospitals and fires. After all, Rui was my best friend back when the incident happened as well, so he would know best.

"Don't worry, I'll go with you." Rui held my hand tightly to let me know he wouldn't go anywhere until I wished otherwise.

When I saw his smile, I felt at ease straight away and slowly fell into unconsciousness.

When I awoke again, the white ceiling and walls surrounding me made my mind race and I started to panic. I quickly closed my eyes tightly in an attempt to calm myself down. A hand held mine and another hand wiped my forehead.

"Hey, you awake?" The oh-so-familiar voice whispered next to my ear. The voice that made me feel relief almost immediately.

I opened my eyes and saw Rui's face beside me.

"I'm here too!" Rukia chanted happily. "I thought you were going to die! You looked so pale." She added with a cheeky grin.

"Oww!" She protested when Rui smacked her gently on her head.

I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

"Ah, Akira's laughing. It has been ages since I last saw you laugh." Rukia said before starting to giggle as well.

"The doctor said that you fracture a few bones in your side. So, they said you have to wear a brace for a month, _without_ taking it off, in order for it to heal on its own." Rui told me while still holding my hand. "It's quite heavy, but they said you'll get used to it. The other option was to undergo surgery and put a smaller brace in. You wouldn't want that right?" Rui added.

I quickly shook my head. The thought of being in a hospital scared me enough. Going for a surgery? I'd rather die.

"That's what I thought." Rui smiled.

"Oh. That means I can get out of the hospital soon?" I asked Rui.

"Yeah. After the doctor checks on you again, you can be released." Rui replied and Rukia cheerfully added, "But the best part is, our mom asked you to stay over at our house so there will be people to look after you instead of you being alone."

I stared at the two of them, not believing what I just heard. Staying with Rui and Rukia? It was ten times better than living alone. I've been living alone for so long that the idea of living with someone else never crossed my mind.

"That sounds... great." I said and grinned.

"Hahaha!" Rukia burst out of laughing.

"Nani?" I wondered out loud when I saw Rui trying to hold back his laughter.

"That grin of yours is so kawaii! I miss it so much since you always wear a grumpy face. Omigosh! I should have taken a photo." Rukia said between laughs as she held her stomach. "Oh gosh! I'm laughing till I cry!" She continued as she started to tear from laughing too hard.

Rui finally couldn't hold his laughter back and he burst out laughing as well. I blushed before smiling.

As I watched them, I started to laugh along with them.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Insult**

Two days have gone by since I was allowed to leave the hospital and was currently living with Rui and Rukia.

I woke up with a yawn and stared at the blue ceiling in Rui's room. It had a soothing and calming feeling to it, plus the blankets were soft which made me feel as if I was still in dreamland. The smell of fried fish and eggs drifted through the gap in the doorway. A Japanese breakfast huh.

I closed my eyes again, enjoying the peace of the morning until a hand knocked my forehead gently. I opened my eyes and saw Rui standing beside the bed.

"Morning sleepy head." He chuckled before pulling my blankets off.

"Hey!" I complained before bursting out in laughter. "Morning, Rui."

I looked at him in amazement. He was already dressed and ready for school. Oh crap, school. Nobody in school knew about my lifestyle when I was living alone, much less now. That made the girls think I was trying to be mysterious, which is the stupidest thing I've hear by far. Fine, maybe not the stupidest.

I jumped out of bed and felt the weight of the heavy brace on my body.

"I'll never get use to the brace, ever." I complained.

"I'm sure you will. Give it some time." Rui smiled before throwing my uniform to me.

"I'll be downstairs in the dining room if you need me. Rukia's down there already. If you don't hurry, she's going to eat everything up." He joked before walking out and closing the door behind him.

As I put on my uniform, I noticed the brace wasn't that obvious when I wore my uniform. As soon as I was done changing, I grabbed my bag and ran down the stairs as fast as I possibly could with the heavy brace slowing me down.

While putting on our shoes after breakfast, I wished Rui and Rukia's parents 'Ittekimasu' before we headed to school. As we were walking, I heard someone call us from behind.

"Rui! Akira! Yo, wait up!" Hikaru was running towards us when I turned around.

"Ohayo! You guys are early." He greeted us with a grin as soon as he caught up.

I simply shrugged in response.

Rui chuckled then said, "You're early too you know."

"Haha, yeah. I got some club stuff to take care of. It's tough to be in the club committee you know." He complained as we continued our walk to school.

Kaoru joined us while we were walking to school as well. It happens that all of them live in the same area. When we walked into the school grounds, there were girls whispering and giggling away.

Hikaru just let out a sigh and said, "Well, we're not the only early ones. They sure seem very enthusiastic early in the morning."

He chuckled as he pointed to the girls around.

I ignored the screaming girls. It was becoming a norm here in this school. The same thing happened every morning. Just because the four of us looked better than the average guy you'd see on the street. Kaoru and Hikaru ranked third and fourth respectively in the GR. The fifth guy was Ikari Kanta. No surprise there. As I said earlier, Rui was number 1, what a surprise. Not! It was as obvious as daylight that he would be ranked first.

"Class, let's get ready for lesson." Mr Yoshina said when everyone was seated.

Picking up the marker, he started to write a few questions on the board until the board was filled.

"Okay, let's start with a pop quiz." He grinned.

The whole class groaned in unison. "Not again..."

Mr Yoshina simply ignored the complaints and continued. "I'll call your name and you'll come up and write the answer on the board. These questions are not easy so if you can't answer it, there isn't any forfeit this time. Fuji-kun, Ishida-kun, Kanta-kun, Ryuuzaki-kun, Shirogane-kun. Each of you will take two questions. I expect the top 5 in the school should be able to answer some of these questions. The rest of you will solve the questions on a piece of paper."

A sigh escaped my mouth as I stood up and walked towards the board.

"Shouldn't be a problem for you right? Mr-number-one." Ikari taunted.

He was so annoying. I would have punched him in the face if it wasn't for the fact that we were in class.

The five of us stood at the board staring at the questions. After a few seconds, we started to solve the questions. I solved mine in my head and slowly wrote it down. The second question was in a book I was browsing through at the library. Mind you, I was just glancing through some books when I came across it. I tried to solve it then and only managed to after thinking really hard. Rui, Hikaru and I answered our own two questions, while Kaoru and Ikari answered one of their own. Mr Yoshina then motioned for us to go back to our seats.

"All of you answered correctly for the questions you did except Rui. Rui, why is one of your questions completely wrong?"

"Eh? I thought I guessed it correctly?" Rui said jokingly.

The whole class, including our teacher, laughed at Rui's acting-innocent comment.

"Heh, he only knows how to get attention. Must be sad to be such an attention seeker, probably doesn't get enough attention at home." Ikari scoffed.

I couldn't take it anymore; he really made my blood boil. Running towards him, I punched him in the face. He flew backwards and into the spare desk behind him.

"What the hell did you do that for you idiot?" He retorted angrily and stood back up.

"Kanta-kun! Shirogane-kun! That's enough! Stop fighting! Or do you want to be suspended?" Mr Yoshina shouted from the front of the class.

I completely ignored him.

"Don't you dare insult Rui! You have no right to crap about him! He's a hundred times better than you! You'd better watch it or I'm going to punch you into next week!" I threatened, fists clenched tightly by my side.

Nobody was going to insult Rui and get away with it. Insulting my best friend? Over my dead body. He had been the only one there for me for so many years. He understood me and stood by me through everything. He didn't deserve any of these insults.

"Akira, calm down. Forget it. It's not worth it." Rui pulled me back to my seat.

"I know you're angry, but don't forget our promise." He reminded me gently.

"What a wuss, Akira needs someone else to look after him. I bet even his parents got tired of looking after him." Ikari walked back to his seat smirking.

Rui's hands holding me down was the only thing that helped me control myself, if not, I would have probably punched him out the window. I wasn't joking.

"That's enough!" Mr Yoshina shouted. "Let's get back to lessons. Take out your Math textbooks."

Rui looked at me with concern. I nodded to indicate that I had calmed down enough. He sighed before moving back to his seat beside me.

During lunchtime, Rui ruffled my hair, saying, "Hey, earth to Akira... Let's go eat."

I stopped looking out the window and turned my attention to him. He was smiling as usual, but this time, I didn't feel much better from looking at his cheerfulness.

"Hey. If you're still thinking about what happened just now, forget about it. It's not worth the time and effort. Besides, I've never seen you get so agitated before. What happened to the calm and collected Akira I always see?" Rui raised his eyebrow and showed me a gentle smile.

I shrugged and walked out the classroom, towards the cafeteria. As soon as we were at the cafeteria doors, a voice chirped behind us.

"I heard you got into a fight." Rukia said with a slight grin as we entered the cafeteria.

I kept quiet. Ikari went over the line and I had every right to be angry. Especially after Ikari said the things about my parents. What did he know? He was probably a spoilt child who had anything and everything he wanted.

He would never understand what I was going through, ever.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Conversation**

While we were having lunch, Mei walked over to join us.

"Great food they have here huh?" Rukia muttered sarcastically.

"I want proper food. Food that's actually nice to eat..." She whined.

"Don't complain. Just eat it." Rui said as he scooped up the mash potato that looked a week old.

"What was with the bad cafeteria food anyway? You'd think the school would do something about it." Rukia mumbled.

"Ugh..." I grimaced as I pushed the weird looking chicken aside with my fork.

"You got that right. Gross. Why did they have to change the cafeteria cook?" Rukia complained before Rui knocked her head gently.

"Don't be picky. Just eat it without looking at it and it won't taste as bad. Besides, most of the food provided is supposed to be healthier." Rui told her and she raised her eyebrows.

"Healthier my foot. After you." Rukia replied and gestured for Rui to eat his food.

It was quite funny to watch them bicker over little things like this.

"Haven't you heard of ladies first? Fine then, I'll eat it first." Rui replied coolly as he stuffed the mash potato into his mouth.

He swallowed hard and then stuck his tongue out in disgust.

"Aww gross. I think it really is a week old." He whispered to me before grabbing a cup and gulping the drink down.

Rukia burst out laughing and Mei giggled. I smiled.

"It's not that bad, is it?" I asked curiously.

Our cafeteria food was horrible, but it was still edible. Well, more edible than my neighbour's cooking. I have to force down the dinner that my neighbour cooks every Sunday night as she thinks that it is her duty to watch over me. She can't cook...

Honestly, I'm already 15. I can take care of myself perfectly fine. Besides, I'd rather cook dinner myself. It's probably a lot more edible than hers. Well, I'm thankful that my neighbour was trying and I'm happy that she buys stuff for me once in a while, but I can look after myself.

I scooped up the mash potato, stared at it for a few seconds, then swallowed it. Rui, Rukia and Mei's jaw dropped.

"Akira, are you nuts?" Rukia exclaimed.

I tilted my head. "It's quite gross but it's still edible." I admitted.

I wanted to add in that it about the same as my neighbour's but I decided to keep that to myself. The three of them looked at me in disbelief.

"Well, the salad is fine." I said before stabbing the lettuce leaf and carrot.

"You have got to be kidding me. All the cafeteria food tastes either weird or horrible." Rukia said, still staring in amazement at me.

"I want to eat Akira's cooking." She muttered.

Mei looked at her curiously. "Akira's cooking?"

"Yeah! It's super awesome! For a guy, he can cook really well!" Mei burst out in excitement.

I glared at her.

"What do you mean for a guy?" I muttered.

Rui chuckled and said, "It's true though. I really miss your cooking too. You always cooked for us when we were kids."

Rukia grinned and Mei giggled.

"Aw, shut up." I replied hastily and quickly looked away, my face turning red.

"Attention all students. We will be holding the next student head election now. There are slips of paper being passed out. Fill in the name of the person you wish to nominate and put it in the box beside the cafeteria door. Thank you." The current student head, Kakurei Ichito, announced.

I wasn't very familiar with him. The student head was like the student representative. I've seen him in school a few times, but other than that, I hardly knew him. Every time I saw him, he was always studying. He never seemed to play or have fun. What a serious guy...

"Think I stand a chance to be elected? I'll change the cafeteria food if I get elected. " Rui elbowed me laughing.

Rukia immediately interrupted, "No way. It's impossible and you know it. Even if you did change the food."

Rui looked at me to see if I agreed, I shrugged. He chuckled before staring at the slip of paper. I quickly scribbled down Rui's name when none of them were looking.

"Done." I said before getting up to put the folded paper into the box.

I didn't really know who else I could nominate. Not only that, but I think Rui deserves the chance to be student head. He was smart, outgoing, considerate, kind, and good-looking to boot. However, he probably wouldn't get the position. Kakurei Ichito somehow got the for the past two years. This was our last year in Seishou Junior High and I wished Rui would get a chance to lead.

I dropped the slip of paper into the box and walked back to the table where we were seated.

As I sat down, Rui looked at me curiously and asked, "So who did you nominate?"

I quickly shrugged and turned my attention to the food on my plate.

"Well, I'm full." Rukia said contentedly after she burped.

"Gosh. Act more like a girl. That was so bad mannered. Sheesh." Rui ruffled his hair as we walked to school the next morning.

"Urp. Oops. Sorry..." I quickly apologised as I covered my mouth.

The burp just came out and I couldn't stop it.

"Ahaha... See that, even little Akira burps." Rukia laughed.

"He didn't mean it, plus he excused himself." Rui argued.

I jumped in between them, protesting, "Don't call me little! I'm still growing! Plus I'm older than you, Rukia!"

Rui patted my head while laughing.

We walked past Rukia's class and she went in, waving to us. Rui smiled and tugged at the collar of his school uniform. That was the signal we came up with to meet for lunch. I dragged myself into the classroom and flopped down onto my table.

"Time to switch to black Akira mode?" Rui joked as he sat down beside me.

I stared at him silently before staring out the window.

"Well, that was quick. Already switched huh?" He teased.

There was a few minutes of silence and I closed my eyes.

"Hey Akira, remember why we made that promise?" Rui suddenly asked softly.

I opened my eyes to look at him. That promise huh. I nodded and stared at him.

"10 years back, we got into a lot of trouble fighting with some older boys. After that, we made a promise to not get into fights as much as possible, unless it's to protect someone we love. But then again, it wasn't really because we got into trouble huh?" He paused to stare out the window, watching the birds fly across the bright sky.

"It's because when we tried to save Rukia, you...almost killed the bullies... I've never seen you so frightening before. Your eyes were so cold, it was scary." Rui swallowed hard, recalling the memory.

I stared down at my desk before saying, "Yea... Rukia was scared of getting involved in fights after that."

I sighed and turned to look at our form teacher walking into the class.

Fighting not only hurts yourself, it hurts the people around you as well. Including those who are the closest to you. Not only was Rukia affected, our parents were all so worried and upset. I felt horrible after that.

I promised Rui, and I'm not going to break that promise. For the sake of Rui and Rukia who have always been with me. I won't hurt them like that.

"Let's begin class..." Mr Yoshina announced.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Boss**

After lunch break, we returned back to class to see Ikari and a group of students staring at me, although it seemed more like they were glaring.

When I walked past them to get to my seat, I heard Ikari mutter, "You'd better watch it. You were mistaken if you think you could get away with punching me yesterday."

I rolled my eyes and ignored him. That was more than enough to make him snap.

"You trash! Don't you dare, for even one second think that you're better than me just because you're the top student!"

"Too bad, I don't even have to try." I muttered while sitting down at my desk.

Rui looked at me warningly and sat down beside me. He was clearly telling me not to start a fight, and I had to agree with him. Behind me, I could feel Ikari glaring daggers at my back.

If he wanted to fight me, he'd probably have to wait until after class, because the other students started to file in.

Our science teacher was absent, so Mr Yoshina came in as a relief teacher. Since it was supposed to be science class, we got time to do our science homework. Silence lingered in the classroom. The only noises that could be heard were the scratching of pencils and a student near the window coughing and clearing his throat every now and then.

Suddenly the door swung open and a young man, who looked younger than 20, in a black suit barged in.

"You can't go in. They're having lessons and you have yet to give me your identity." The security guard shouted in the hallway.

"I don't have time to entertain you, I'm busy." The man in the suit replied emotionlessly.

He was blonde and his eyes were a cold shade of brown. His eyes reminded me of someone else's from long ago, but I couldn't recall. He looked around the classroom and ruffled his hair.

"Boss, what are you looking for?" A few other men in black came running in.

"This is Seishou Junior High right? I swear he was in third year." He mumbled to himself.

The security guard started to threaten, "You've been storming into every senior class. If you do not co-operate, we will have to call the police."

"The police? Hah! What do you think they can do against us?" One of the men standing beside the person they called 'boss' scoffed.

I glanced around the classroom to see all the students staring at the commotion. Even Rui looked puzzled.

The security guard pulled at the arm of the 'boss', trying to get him to leave.

"Hey! Don't touch our boss!" Another man in black said before pushing the security guard aside.

The force from the push made the security guard who was still holding the man's arm fell, ripping his shirt slightly. That was when I caught a glimpse of the grim reaper tattoo on his chest. My nightmare flashed back in my mind and I remembered the significance of the tattoo.

"You... You're that... man!" I stood up and glared at him.

I could feel the anger in me rising.

"You... What are you doing here? You bastard!" I shouted across the classroom and everyone stared at me in surprise.

The guy with the tattoo looked stunned at first, and then stared at me very hard before bursting out in laughter.

"You're that boy who was in the fire aren't you?" He stared at me in disbelief.

"To think you survived. Terrible miscalculation on my part. You see, we do not leave any witness behind." He shook his head.

Rui immediately stared at me and said in shock, "He's the man who kidnapped your brother?"

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist so hard that it started to hurt. My mind was a mess, completely filled with nothing but rage.

By then, the whole class was staring at me and the man in bewilderment.

"Dammit! You bastard! Give my brother back!" I screamed before launching myself at him.

"Akira! Stop!" Rui shouted behind me.

I was about to punch him, but he moved very quickly, evading my punch and kicking me in the stomach. I was flung backwards and Rui, who was running forward, caught me.

My movements were too slow. The brace was dragging me down too much. I used my hand to support myself so that I could stand up.

Rui grabbed my arm, trying to prevent me from fighting him. "Akira! Stop it! He's gonna kill you if you keep this up. There's no way you could..."

He was cut short when his eyes caught mine. My blue eyes were filled with hatred and coldness that made Rui gasp in shock.

I ripped off the brace that was holding me back and lunged forward at the man.

"Little boy, you're going to get yourself killed. I'll admit you have guts, just like your brother did. However, I was going easy on you earlier. But if you still insist on fighting, I won't hold back."

I ignored his warning and ran forward with my fist ready to strike. He caught my punch with his hand and I quickly flung my other arm at him, only to have it caught by his other hand. I shifted my body and used my right leg to kick him but he used his lower arm to block. He held both my hands and flipped me.

I was so infuriated that the promise I made to Rui to keep my fighting to the minimum was forgotten. However, the anger within me clouded my mind and I was not able focused, causing me to fight not as well as I could have.

I used my left leg to kick his chin when he was flipping me. The impact made him jerk backwards, letting go of me. I did a backward somersault to land on my feet.

"Just because you're 'boss', don't underestimate me!" I shouted with detest at the man.

"You're pretty good, I admit, but you're still just a kid. If I recall, your name was Shirogane-kun, wasn't it? Haha, you've grown from the scaredy-cat who just stood there when his brother asked him to run to quite a fighter."

He stared at me with an expression that I couldn't read. What was it?

Suddenly my vision started blurring and my legs gave way.

"Arghhh!" The pain in my side returned again. Not now of all times!

"Dammit!" I punched the ground with my fist.

Rui ran up to me and held me, "Akira! Stop it! Your injury isn't even close to healing. You're just gonna get hurt. Please, just stop." Rui pleaded.

I looked up to see tears streaming down his face.

"Shirogane-kun, I look forward to seeing you again." I stared angrily into the man's eyes.

Wait, weren't they grey in the past? And is it just me or does he look a lot younger? That's probably not the case. The fire happened so many years back, I guess I don't remember it that clearly.

The man turned around and continued, "Since you probably already know that I'm a boss of a mafia group, I'll tell you something. Your brother, Kazuma Shirogane, is dead. He begged us to kill him so we granted him his wish. Be happy."

He turned around to walk off. I gritted my teeth and stared at him with a murderous glare.

"You bastard! He's not dead! Dammit! I'll kill you!" I screamed before I blacked out and passed out.

I opened my eyes to see Rui's face watching me worriedly.

"Akira. I'm so sorry. I didn't know that he was the man who took your brother away." His eyes were shut tightly.

I realised we were still in the classroom and that I was lying on the floor.

I shifted my hands and touched his clenched fists, "Rui. Sorry. It's not your fault. I couldn't help it, I completely lost myself when I realised who he was."

Mr Yoshina was standing behind Rui and he appeared to be lost in thought. Hikaru and Kaoru were sitting beside Rui and the rest of the students were staring from where they were seated.

"We have to make a report." Mr Yoshina finally said. "Can you tell me what happened? The man mentioned something about your brother, Shirogane-kun? I need to know."

I looked up at him, then back at Rui. As I sat up, I was surprised at how heavy my body was.

Rui noticed my expression and said softly, "I put the brace back on."

I nodded silently as he helped me to stand up. Hikaru and Kaoru smiled and supported me back to my seat while Rui explained what happened 9 years ago to Mr Yoshina.

All my energy was grained and once I sat down, I collapsed on my desk and fell into a deep sleep.


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: The New Friend**

"ra...Akira...Akira. Wake up."

I opened my eyes reluctantly and saw Rui standing next to my desk. I was suddenly aware that I was still in the classroom and that all eyes were on me.

Mr Yoshina walked up to my desk and asked me, "So that man earlier was the same man who kidnapped your brother?"

I stared up at him. My mind was completely blank and when I tried to answer, nothing came out. So I just nodded.

"I see." He replied, trying very hard to hide his worry but failing miserably.

Rui patted me on the head and smiled, "Don't worry. It's gonna be fine."

I was thankful Rui was there with me or I could have been seriously injured. The whole incident made me feel like just crying out. However, the stares from my classmates were more than sufficient to keep my tears bottled up.

After a few minutes of silence, Ikari spoke up, "So what? His brother was kidnapped, boo hoo. It's so long ago anyway. What's the big deal? It's not like the police can do anything anyway. Forget it; Akira's brother is probably dead, just like that guy said."

Tears started to stream down my face. My brother couldn't be dead. He just couldn't. There's no way he would die so easily.

When Rui saw the tears running down my face, he held me firmly and said, "I don't believe Kazuma is dead. He's definitely still alive. Listen to me, the Kazuma that I knew would never beg to be killed just like that. It isn't in his character to give in. You know him best and he's definitely not like that."

I gazed into his eyes and knew that that was what Rui truly believed, not just to comfort me. He smile gently at me and patted me on my head again. I smiled tiredly and then nodded to show him that I believed what he said.

At this point, Mr Yoshina turned around and walked back to the front of the class and started to address everyone.

"Due to what has just happened, I would like all of you to be careful. If what I heard from Rui is correct, those people are very dangerous. Who knows what they are capable of? Shirogane-kun and Ryuuzaki-kun, I'd like to speak to both of you after class about something very important. Class is dismissed."

He had ended class 15 minutes early, something he had never done before.

"Thank you for sharing your past with me. Especially since it's something you would probably not want to remember if possible." Mr Yoshina said after we finished our discussion after class.

"Be careful and stay alert. Oh, and Akira, if you see him again, it would be better if you didn't jump straight into the fight. Call for help or run away instead of getting yourself into danger." He cautioned and I nodded before Rui and I walked out of the classroom.

Rui offered to support me but I told him the injury wasn't hurting as bad anymore and that I could even run if I wanted to.

Rukia was waiting for us outside our class for lunch.

"Hey. I heard something happened earlier?" She asked the both of us.

"I'll explain it when we get home." Rui answered after studying my exhausted expression.

We headed to the field and sat down on the grass. I fell backwards onto the grass and stared up at the clouds in the sky, ignoring the other students around us.

"Can I join you?" I turned around to see Mei smiling at us.

Ever since the incident with the bullies, Mei had opened up to us and started to be quite close to us.

"Sure." Rukia smiled while gesturing for her to sit down.

Rui and I decided to race a few rounds around the track since running was one of the things I did to help get my mind off things. We sprinted past Rukia and Mei for the fifth time before Rui and I caught sight of the crowd of students watching us.

Suddenly, Hikaru was running beside us and laughing.

"Nice audience you managed to gather." He joked.

Rui laughed along while I kept my impassive face.

Hikaru looked at me before saying, "My brother died 2 years ago from an illness. So I guess I kinda know how you feel, I mean about losing a brother and all. He was really all I had since my father was always working."

I turned to look at him and noticed his smile was not his usual cheerful smile, but a very sad and lonely one.

He continued, "He told me that I should keep smiling no matter what happened. Even when he was very ill and lying in bed, he would smile cheerfully at me when I went to visit him at the hospital. Before he died, he told me that I had a wonderful smile that could make others happy as well. So he said I should smile for the sake of both others and myself."

I remained silent as we continued to run.

Finally I decided to speak up, "You know, my brother said something similar before. When we were young, we often played in the playground and I would fall a lot. Whenever I fell and started to cry, he would tell me to smile instead. He said that when something doesn't go the way we want it to, we shouldn't cry, because that's how we learn."

I turned to look at Hikaru and smiled. "I guess we have some things in common."

He nodded in agreement.

After a few seconds of silence, Rui suddenly said, "Hey Hikaru, wanna come over to our house after school?"

Hikaru and I stared at him with a grin before Hikaru answered, "Sure! I'd love to."

After school, Rui, Rukia, Hikaru and I walked to Rui and Rukia's house (And my house currently). Mei said that the bullies had stopped appearing so she headed home on her own.

When we entered Rui's room, Hikaru looked around and then asked, "Why are there two beds? Rukia has her own room right?"

"Akira is currently staying with us!" Rukia chirped without a second thought.

Rui and I looked at each other before facing Hikaru. I was hoping it would stay a secret but apparently Rui and I forgot about it and invited Hikaru over.

"Er, yeah. Akira is living with us for the time being. At least until his injury gets better." Rui glared at Rukia.

"Can you keep this a secret? Please?" I asked Hikaru with pleading eyes.

He burst out laughing, "Yeah, sure. You guys are so funny. You should see your faces. Akira's practically blushing."

When I heard that, I quickly touched my face and turned away. My face felt hot and I was sure that Hikaru was right.

"I'll... go get the, erm, drinks." I ran out of the room and heard Hikaru and Rukia's laughter behind me.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: The Cousin**

When I came back in with a tray of drinks, they were all seated on the floor around a small table. I set the tray in the middle and joined them on the ground.

Hikaru looked at me and said, "Actually, I have something important I need to tell you."

I looked at him with a puzzled expression before saying, "Erm, what is it?"

He looked down at his feet for a short while before continuing to talk, "Firstly, I want you to promise you won't be too shocked."

Hikaru looked at me and I quickly nodded, assuring him that I would keep calm.

He continued, "I told you that my brother is dead, but he isn't the only family member of mine that is dead. My mother is dead too."

Rukia's mouth fell open and Rui closed her mouth gently, reminding her to not be shocked.

"Well, my mother died when I was 6. She died in a fire..."

Hikaru seemed like he was trying very hard to find the right words to say. Something about what he just said made me feel really uncomfortable all of a sudden.

"My mother was asked by her sister to take care of her two sons. This was before my brother...died. My mother willingly helped her sister, leaving my father to take care of me and my brother. I wasn't upset or anything. After all, I understood why my mother's sister needed help to take care of her sons. She and her husband were always working overseas and could only come back once in a while to see them. To be honest, I felt sorry for my two cousins. They couldn't experience the love I felt from my parents." Hikaru smiled sadly as he explained.

He paused for a few seconds before continuing, "Every Saturday, my mother came home to see us and would tell me about my two cousins. She said the two of them were like me and my brother in many ways and that when she saw the younger brother smile, it reminded her so much of me. My mother would tell me about all the things they did and that they never went anywhere without each other. Once, she even brought back cookies that the younger brother baked."

Something about the story so far seemed awfully familiar.

"And then, one day, a fire broke out in their house. I don't really know what happened, but the next day, a few policemen came to our house and told my father that my mother was dead. I overheard their conversation about my mother being shot in the back and that her body was badly burnt by the fire, to the extent where it was almost hard to identify her body..."

Right then, I felt my stomach flip and I felt like throwing up. It couldn't be...

Hikaru stopped to look at me, and so did Rui and Rukia.

"Hey Akira, are you okay? You look really pale."

"Yea, are you sick?" Rui asked worriedly.

I was sick, but not like an illness, more like a nauseating feeling. If was as if I was smacked in the face by someone.

"Hikaru... Your... your mother...your two cousins...you're my..." I swallowed hard, "...cousin?"

My throat felt like it was burning when I said it. It's not possible... Hikaru's mother was my aunt?

Rui and Rukia stared wide-eyed at me, then at Hikaru, and then back at me again.

Hikaru was my cousin and I was the reason why my aunt died. I robbed Hikaru of his mother. All because of me...

I felt tears stream down my face and both Hikaru and Rui said at the same time, "Akira?"

I quickly wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my uniform and whispered, "I'm so sorry Hikaru. I really am. I don't know what to do to make it up to you... And I probably can't..."

Hikaru stared at me with a puzzled look, not understanding why I was so upset. The tears started to flow down my cheeks again.

"Your mother, Aine-san, was shot by the man who took my brother... and it's all my fault. She wouldn't have died if I had done something. Even after that, I just froze there... Your mother was so worried about us and shouted for us to run. She was still alive for a short while even after being shot and if I didn't freeze there, I could have ran and called for help... I... I..." I trailed off, tears flowing freely down my face.

Hikaru placed his finger on my lips to stop me.

"It's okay. I know, and I don't blame you. After all, my mother loved the two of you as if you were her own two sons. I know she would give up her life to protect me, and she would give up her life to protect the two of you as well. You're like my other brother, except I only saw you once before. Besides, it really wasn't your fault. I'll repeat it as many times it takes for you to believe me, _it's not your fault_." Hikaru explained.

It was only after a few minutes that I managed to calm down. I looked at the standing mirror behind Rui and saw that my eyes were red from crying.

Hikaru patted my head just like Rui always did and said, "The man who killed my mother also kidnapped your brother right? The same man who came barging into class today. Although I can't get my mother back, you still have a shot at saving your brother. So, I'm going to do what I can to help you."

He smiled a warm and gentle smile at me and I couldn't help but smile when Rui and Rukia started to smile as well.

"Haha. Look at that. If my brother were here, he would tell you to keep smiling. In class, you always wear that expressionless mask. You shouldn't hide your smile." Hikaru said.

He was trying to stifle his laughter and it looked like he was trying very hard. Rukia nodded with a silly grin before bursting out in laughter.

I was surrounded by friends and so, I willingly let the barrier that I always have built around me fall and started to laugh as well.

It felt great to laugh again.

* * *

><p><em>At first, I didn't think of making Hikaru Akira's cousin. But since I thought it would make things more interesting, Hikaru joined the crew as Akira's cousin. Cute little boy character~ 3<em>


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: The Event**

The next day, Rui, Rukia and I walked into school to see the school grounds completely crowded with students. We caught sight of Hikaru and Kaoru standing under a tree and walked over to ask them what was going on.

"It looks like the news about the man who barged into our classroom yesterday has reached everyone's ears." Kaoru answered us.

"This is bad. If the fact that he is a part of the mafia gets out as well, it could be chaotic." Hikaru mumbled under his breath.

"I can't control the students. They're in complete panic..." Chitose Yukiya, the student council vice-president, walked up to us with a sigh.

"So, where's Kakeru?" Rui asked him.

"Still trying to calm the students down..." Chitose scratched his head before turning to face the crowd of students.

Over all the commotion, I could hear Kakeru shouting, "Everyone! Calm down! Nothing will happen. Please calm down!"

I watched the commotion silently. Suddenly, Rui ran off into the school.

"Oh no..." I muttered.

The rest of the guys turned to stare at me curiously.

When Rui returned, he shouted as loud as he could, "Hey everyone! If you quieten down, we can get some of the top 10 most popular guys together for an event. The principal has agreed to the idea so please gather in the spectators stand at the field."

I smacked my head. I knew him only _too_ well.

Kakeru and Rui walked towards us. Rui had a huge grin plastered on his face.

"So we're holding a fashion show now?" Hikaru joked.

"Seems like it. We'd go broke if we had to hold an actual fashion show though." Kaoru replied with a laugh before following Rui and Kakeru towards the field.

I sighed as I dragged my feet after them. Another one of our principal's funny ideas...

We stood in a straight line on the field in front of everyone. I could feel the nervousness and embarrassment build up inside of me.

The whole school fell silent as the principal said, "Now, please give your attention to our student council president."

Kakeru stepped forward, "Everyone, I would like to bring to your attention that our school is completely safe and that you do not have to worry. The school has already taken the necessary measures and increased the security."

"Well done. As expected of my top 10 students." The principal interrupted, clapping his hands.

"There will be no lessons today, instead, we will all gather here for an absolutely exciting event." He announced.

I figured this whole event was just so the students would not think too much about the whole incident. Besides, these kind of random events were quite normal in our school, given out principal's weird fetishes to do something random in the school every once in a while.

"Having no class is great, but what was that about the top students being the main attraction?" Chitose thought out loud.

"No idea... I only asked the teachers if we could have permission to hold an event to get the students to calm down. The details? Don't look at me." Rui shrugged and looked at the students settling down.

"Kakeru?" Kaoru turned to ask.

"I have no idea. Trust me; I can never predict what the principal is thinking. Plus it must be a big event if all top 10 students are gathered." Kakeru chuckled pointing to all 10 of us.

I stared straight at the field in front of us, keeping silent. From the corner of my eye, I saw Kakeru point to me, as if asking if I was okay, Rui answered with a shrug.

"I'm fine." I looked at Rui and Kakeru before continuing, "Something seems off though."

"Like what?" Rui asked.

"It's just that Kakeru said that the school stepped up the security, but I haven't seen any guards around at all. Not only that, I just have this uneasy feeling that something is going to happen. No idea what though..." I answered.

Everyone turned to stare at me and Ikari laughed sarcastically, "What? Now you're getting paranoid? Sheesh..."

I glared at him before turning back to Rui, "I'm just worried."

Kakeru looked like he took me seriously and nodded in agreement.

"I was told by the principal that security was stepped up, but now that you mention it, there isn't much security to begin with." Kakeru said worriedly.

Rui patted me on my head to tell me not to worry. It eased my worries a little, but not completely.

When the principal announced that the top 10 students were going to do a question-and-answer session on the spot, I could have just dropped dead.

Rui supported me and smiled, "Don't worry. I'll help you answer the questions you don't want to talk about."

A sense of relief swept over me and I heaved a sigh of relief. Kakeru and Hikaru both turned to smile at me as an encouragement. I was happy that I had Rui with me, and my new friends, Hikaru, Kaoru and Kakeru. Kakeru and I just seemed to 'click', like how I did with Rui. Same with Kaoru.

"Without further ado, let's begin!" The principal shouted into the microphone as we sat down on the chairs that were prepared for us.

The first question was targeted at Rui.

A boy asked him, " How did you get so popular?"

I turned to look at him and saw him grinning.

He picked up the microphone on the table in front of us and joked, "I wonder where I get the good looks from?"

Laughter filled the school.

A girl asked Kakeru where he lived. He considered it for a moment before answering, "Well, I'll tell you part of it, I live near the train station. However, I'm not going to tell you all the details or I'll have to face the mobs outside my house in the near future."

He started to laugh, the students joined in the laughter as well.

All of them were naturals at controlling the crowd and getting them on their good side.

After a few questions, someone directed a question at me.

She asked, "How much did I have to study in order to be the top student?"

I shrugged before answering, "I did whatever the teachers gave us to do and an interest in reading helps a lot."

"Hmph, I guess some people don't have to study because they're parents are top students as well." Ikari muttered into the microphone he was holding.

Rui and I turned simultaneously to glare at him.

As the question-and-answer session was about to end, another girl asked me, "Do you have any siblings? If you do, are they like you?"

That was the worst possible question that could have been asked. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably and gripped the side of the chair.

Rui read my expression and then picked up the microphone.

"That's a secret that is for us to know and for you to find out." He said with a chuckle.

The students groaned at his answer and some laughed. Hikaru looked at me with an encouraging smile and Rui patted my head with a smile. Girls in the spectator stand started squealing.

"That's so sweet..." Kaoru teased.

I felt my face go red and quickly looked away.

Rui laughed before saying, "Too bad, I bet you wish you were Akira."

The rest burst out laughing.

I covered my face as I felt it get hotter.

"Akira, come on. Don't cover your face." Hikaru pulled my hands away from my face and saw me blushing.

"That is so adorable." Kaoru laughed and continued, "Didn't think Akira, who didn't care about anything around him, knew how to blush."

It was so embarrassing that I felt like crawling into a hole and hide.

Then gun shots from the top of the spectator stand interrupted.

* * *

><p><em>This is to clear up some confusion on the top 10 hottest guys if there some might be confused~<em>

_**Top 10 guys ranking (GR)**  
>1. Rui Ryuuzaki<br>2. Kaoru Ishida  
>3. Akira Shirogane<br>4. Hikaru Fuji  
>5. Ikari Kanta<br>6. Kakeru Kirihara (Student council president)  
>7. Chitose Yukiya (Student council vice-president)<br>8. Kakurei Ichito (Student head)_


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: The Fight**

Everyone's attention immediately shifted to the men in black standing at the top of the spectator stand.

Another bullet was fired into the air and girls started to scream while some students started to run. One of the men held up his gun and shot a boy who was running away in the leg.

Everyone was thrown into a panic.

"Shut up and no one gets hurt!" The man shouted and silence fell upon the whole field.

The men started to run down the stairs and towards the space between the spectator's stand and where we were seated.

The principal got up to ask who they were but another man in black came up from behind him, holding a gun to his head.

A few students screamed in fear and another man shouted, "Everyone shut up!"

Rui, Kakeru, Hikaru and I looked at one another.

"This is bad..." Kakeru whispered.

"You over there! Shut up or consider your life forfeited!" One of them shouted at us.

I recognised the man who shouted at us. He was one of those with the mafia boss yesterday.

"Boss said to move them to an enclosed area, so let's get them all into the hall." One of them said to another.

"Get moving! Everyone into the hall!" Another shouted to the crowd and held up his gun to show that he meant business.

A few girls started to cry and the man I recognised started to fire his gun up at the sky. The girls screamed and continued to cry.

"That's it! They're annoying the hell out of me!" The man said before aiming the gun at the girls.

I couldn't stand it when other people pick on others just because they're bigger.

I ran forward and punched the man in the back. Rui didn't have enough time to stop me from attacking.

The man turned around and swung his fist towards me. I ducked before kicking his legs from under him and slamming my fist down on his stomach when he fell. He curled up in a ball on the track and groaned. The men around him all turned to glare at me before starting to run towards me.

Rui ran to my side and said, "Just this once. Make sure you don't get hurt. Let's get them!"

I smiled before tearing the brace that I was still wearing off.

"Show them what we're made of." He whispered before lunging forward.

"BANG!"

A gunshot came from behind us. Everyone stopped in their tracks to turn and see who fired the gun.

When I turned, my eyes were locked on the blonde haired man with the grim reaper tattoo on his chest standing with his gun raised in the air. He was wearing his collared white shirt with the top two buttons unbuttoned.

"You useless bone-heads! I said to bring them to an enclose area, not start a fight! Don't shoot the students you bunch of fools!" He shouted angrily.

The other men in black quickly apologised, "Sorry Boss!"

I was ready to jump forward at him when Rui held my hand and shook his head. Mr Yoshina words echoed in my head and I stood there motionless, eyes fixed only on the man. If looks could kill, he would probably be dead by now.

Rui looked slightly frightened when he looked at my cold, hatred-filled eyes.

"Hello again, Akira." The man said before laughing.

"You must be quite strong to take down any of my men." He said, pointing to the man lying on the ground as he walked towards us.

"Next will be you..." I muttered in a low voice thick with nothing but hatred.

"Haha, I see." He laughed it off before ordering his men to secure the area.

"Get to it!" He shouted before continuing to mutter, "Idiots, don't even know how to follow simple instructions..."

Many of the men in black scrambled off to surround the school and a few shoved at some students to lead them to the hall.

After the field was almost empty of students and teachers; and only the top 10 students, plus a small number of students, were left, the man walked up to us.

"Come at me." The mafia boss said before ripping off his shirt and getting into a fighting stance.

Rui looked at me and whispered, "Akira, think it through. You'll get hurt. He looks older and more experienced in fighting."

"You think I can't take him on, don't you?" I muttered.

Rui looked both stunned and hurt at the same time.

"I'm just worried about you..."

"I'll be fine. I've fought so many times when we were kids. I've took on those bullies in the past, and he's no different."

"He's totally different! He's a mafia boss and probably has weapons hidden on him!" Rui argued.

I glanced once at him and whispered, "I promised Kazuma and Aine-san that I'll survive. I don't intend to die yet..."

I gave him a slight smile before running forward. I couldn't bear to turn around to look at Rui's face. I had a pretty good idea what expression he had on.

I had gotten into many fights before, but none as intense and frightening as this. I was literally fighting to the death. One wrong move and the man could end up killing me.

As we continued to exchange blows, I caught sight of Rukia crying beside Rui. I wanted to comfort her but that was clearly impossible.

I kicked the man in the side and without pausing, his fist flew towards my face. I dodged to the left before grabbing his arm and punching him in the stomach. It didn't seem to do much damage.

His leg aimed to kick my injured side and I quickly jumped backwards, using my hands to support me. His mouth curled up into a smile as if mocking me.

I swerved to the left as he ran forward. His leg was raised, ready to kick up high from my side. My hands flew up to protect my head and caught his leg. In that split second, the man's fist punched me in the stomach and I quickly jumped backwards and then to the right.

He straightened up to look at me. I clutched my stomach and covered my mouth as I started to cough. I felt a warm fluid stain my hand and when I removed my hand, red splatters covered the surface of my palm. I looked up and saw Rui's horrified face.

That short break was a horrible mistake. Before I knew what was happening, I felt a sharp pain on my head and the next second, I was on the floor.

The man stood above me, still smiling, with a gun in his hand. There was complete silence except for a few gasps from my friends.

"AKIRA!" Rui's voice rang out through the field.

Rukia screamed, filling the air with tension.

I tried to see past the man, but his body completely blocked me from seeing Rui or Rukia. I couldn't do anything to knock his leg that was trapping my body off. He wasn't that much bigger or older than me, but he was really strong.

"Dammit!" I cursed under my breath.

His index finger was placed on the trigger and his brown eyes, which felt like they were piercing holes through me, were fixed on me.

I shut my eyes tightly, preparing to feel a cold metallic object pierce through me.

I was trapped.


	15. Chapter 14

_Hope you're enjoying the story so far. It's gonna get more interesting from here on~ ^^_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 14: The Truth<span>**

I heard the click from the trigger being pulled.

"AKIRA! NOOOOO!" I heard Rui scream before the ear-splitting shot rang out.

"BANG!"

I felt a quick breeze pass by my face.

I wasn't dead; I didn't feel any pain and I could hear my heart thumping very hard in my chest.

As I opened my eyes slowly, the man was still standing above me with his hands still on the gun. I supported myself with my elbows and looked up at him, expecting to see a sly smile on his face. Instead, his expression shocked me to the extent where I fell back onto the ground. He had tears clouding his eyes. There was very little moisture, nonetheless, they were tears.

I tried to say something, shout or scream, but I couldn't. I was completely taken aback...

Who was this man? Why was he even crying? Why is it that I can't remember anything even though he seems so familiar? I cursed mentally.

He lifted his foot off me and moved away from me to stand a few metres away from the where I was. Rui, Rukia, Hikaru, Kaoru and Kakeru ran towards me in an instant.

Rukia had tears running down her face and Rui immediately fell to his knees beside me. He had a torn and pained expression on his face, eyes filled with worry and anxiety.

I sat up and was suddenly hugged by Rui and Rukia.

"I thought you were going to die, for real..." Hikaru mumbled beside me.

They seemed to be more relieved than I was.

I was more in a shock than anything. The man who had left me to die in the fire had just spared my life. Not only that, but the man I thought was heartless, was actually crying.

I glanced in the direction he was standing in and stared. He was definitely only a few years older than us.

"Boss! Boss! What happened? We heard a gunshot."

A few men in black came running towards us. The boss' tone was still the same as earlier.

"You idiots! I told you not to leave your posts! Besides, who else besides me has a gun here? Get back to your posts!" He shouted.

It seems I was the only one who noticed that his voice was slightly strange. Wait... His voice? It sounded like but it couldn't be...

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" Rui stood up and lunged himself at the man.

Everyone immediately turned towards Rui in shock.

It was the first time I saw him get _so_ agitated that it startled me slightly. Rui was hardly ever angry. He only got angry when someone wanted to or had hurt Rukia or me, other than that, he was cheerful most of the time. Even if others insulted him, he would take it quietly and just smile.

I had only a second to react. I _had_ to stop him. "Rui! No! STOP! Don't attack him!" I shouted in desperation.

Rui halted in his tracks and stared at me with a bewildered expression.

"What are you saying? He tried to kill you!" Rui said between gritted teeth.

I suddenly struck me who the man was. It was as if I was slapped in the face.

The man also turned to stare at me with eyes that reflected both sadness and loneliness.

I couldn't believe why I hadn't noticed before... His voice... His eyes...

"You... You're..." I stammered, trying very hard to say the words that were stuck in my throat.

Rui tensed and readied himself to strike when the man walked closer, step by step. That was when the waterworks started. Tears started to flow down my cheeks and I received a lot of confused faces. Everyone turned to look at me with puzzled looks. Rui rushed over to my side and held me.

"Akira? What's wrong? Does your injury hurt?" Rui asked frantically.

I hesitated for a while before I shook my head and held Rui's hand firmly with my left hand. I turned back to look at the man, now standing just an arm's length apart from where we were gathered. I could sense that the people around me were all tensed up.

I looked at the man and just stared for what felt like eternity before opening my mouth.

"Onii-san?" I called out softly to the blonde-haired man.

His hazel brown eyes were exactly the same as the ones my brother had. The man gazed gently at me with his liquid brown eyes that seemed to melt my heart, like my brother's did in the past. The people around me stared at me as if I was crazy. Rui looked at me, then at the man, then back at me.

"Akira, don't be silly... That's not Kazuma. Kazuma would never hurt you. It can't be him. It's just not possible from any way you look at it." Rui reasoned.

I shook my head, "I know my brother. That is Kazuma Onii-san. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have spared my life. It's as you said, Nii-san would never hurt me. Think about it, he could have always shot me and killed me the second he knew who I was. Yet, he didn't. He avoided killing me by challenging me each time." I couldn't believe I had missed all these.

Rui and Hikaru looked at me, not yet convinced.

I turned to the man and said, "Nii-san lied. He would do anything to protect me. He always did whatever it took to make sure I don't get hurt. It was the same that day in the fire... Nii-san put himself at risk to save me. Even now..." I started to sob and the tears flowed freely down my face.

"Nii-san lied... You lied about him dying. He's not dead... Right? Kazuma Onii-san..." I stared into his eyes.

He remained silent.

After a slight pause, he smiled gently at me and said, "Your brother has always wanted to protect you... Akira-chan... I wanted you to think that I died so as to not cause you anymore worry, but it seems I hurt you very badly. My little brother..."

Tears started to form in his eyes as he spoke. He had always called me by that way when he was trying to comfort me or when he was being gentle. Akira-chan...

Everyone gawked at the two of us, completely lost and baffled. Rui was as confused as the rest were.

I nodded before getting up and stumbling towards him. My legs felt weak and they gave way after I took a step forward. Kazuma moved forward to catch me and embraced me tightly. I had forgotten what it felt to be hugged by my brother and now, it felt indescribable.

"Akira... I really missed you... I never heard what became of you and was afraid that you had really died in the fire. I was so afraid... I didn't know what to do; I was so lost and helpless. When I saw you again, I couldn't believe my own eyes. If you could forgive me, I..."

I placed my hand on his mouth and for the first time since the day I lost him, smiled with immense joy.

"I missed you too, Onii-san..." I whispered into his ears before returning his embrace.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: The Escape**

"Isn't this just the most touching scene ever? The young Varion boss hugging his long lost brother. It's so touching; I think I'm going to cry..." A man with brown hair and a red cloth tied around his forehead said with a mocking tone.

His menacing reddish-brown eyes sent a shiver down my spine. Beside him, a black-haired man, holding a spear, smirked sinisterly at his companion's comment.

I gritted my teeth in anger. Kazuma must have felt me tense up because he held me tightly by the shoulders.

"I see you've finally decided to show yourself... Gilgia's mafia boss..." My brother said in a low voice.

Gilgia's boss? That man was from another mafia group?

"Hahaha! How could I miss out on all the fun? After all, the men of the Gilgia mafia group are ready to rid the world of you Varions...completely." He laughed coldly.

He took out a gun from his coat and pointed it at us while the man beside him took out some dynamites.

"This should be enough to kill the two brothers..." He said before lighting the dynamites and throwing it in our direction.

Rui shouted, "Everyone, run!"

I couldn't react fast enough as the little bombs flew towards us. Kazuma grabbed me by the arm and ran towards the spectator stand.

The small bomb detonated and smoke clouded up the area. Kazuma set me down on the steps of the spectator's stand and cursed under his breath.

The cloud of smoke started to settle and I saw a shadow in the smoke. There was a glint in the cloud of dust and I immediately pushed my brother away. A single gunshot rang out and I braced myself; however, the bullet hit the railings beside me. The person had missed me by a few inches.

By then, Kazuma had already gotten up and grabbed my hand.

"Let's get out of here." He said as he quickly pulled me towards the school building.

"What about Rui and the rest?" I panted as we ran.

"I'm sure they're fine. My men will be here soon. Right now, the Gilgia group are most likely after me." He replied hurriedly while reaching into his pocket to take out a walkie-talkie.

"The Gilgia are attacking! All Various units are to assume battle positions. Base units, ensure that all students and teachers are in the building and are safe. Major units, protect the people in the building. Minor units, surround the school to make sure there is no interference. The elites will face the Gilgia group and take them down. Move out!" He commanded his men through the walkie-talkie.

I heard someone running behind us and turned my head to look. A man with bronze hair was catching up to us!

"Nii-san!" I tried to warn him of the man that was approaching.

"It's okay. He's on our side." He explained while we continued to run. "

Boss! Where are we going to?" The man caught up with us and was now running alongside us.

"We're heading to the rooftop. It's the only way we can get out of here. I've already arranged for transport out." Kazuma answered coolly.

I was surprised at how he was still so calm despite such a situation. Then I remembered Rui and the rest were still trapped somewhere in the school.

"What about the Rui and the other students with him?" I asked desperately.

My brother stayed silent for a while before looking at me and sighing.

He held his walkie-talkie close to his mouth and talked into it, "Deploy 10 minor units to find a group of students who are not in the area that is protected, bring them to the rooftop immediately."

He kept the walkie-talkie back in his coat after finishing.

"The name's Sanada! I'm Varion's fighting captain. So, you're boss' little brother? Haha... No wonder he was so worried about you. You're so adorable. Boss acts really fierce when we're on missions, but he actually cares a lot for his men." He chuckled as we ran up the stairs leading to the rooftop.

"If you still want to keep your mouth on your face, you'd better shut it." Kazuma threatened with a slight hint of a joke before turning to me and grinning.

We ran through the door leading to the rooftop and I caught sight of a few shapes in the distance. They were flying closer towards us. Helicopters... The helicopters hovered over the rooftop and a rope ladder was dropped down to us from one of the helicopters.

"Go, climb up."Kazuma said to me as he pulled me towards the rope ladder.

I pulled him back and stopped.

"Rui and the rest aren't here yet! I'm not leaving without them!" I shouted stubbornly over the roar of the wind made by the helicopters.

Kazuma ruffled his hair and sighed, "They'll be fine..."

Just as he said that, a man ran up behind us with Rui, Rukia, Hikaru, Kaoru, and Kakeru following behind. After them, the rest of the top 10 students ran up and gasped at the sight of the helicopters lined up.

"Let's go!" Kazuma shouted and rope ladders dropped down from the other helicopters.

The man who had brought the rest here ran back down the stairs and presumably, back to his post.

All of us climbed up into helicopters. Rui and I were in the same helicopter. When all of us were in, Kazuma and Sanada climbed up the rope ladder while the helicopter started to fly higher. Sanada was clinging on to the rope ladder of one of the helicopters and it seemed like he was enjoying the wind that was blowing into his face.

Kazuma was still climbing up the rope ladder that was attached to our helicopter when a loud "BANG!" was heard.

A bullet flew past him and he swayed on the ladder while laughing. He didn't seem worried one bit... I watched as Sanada grinned and, still clinging on with one hand, took out a gun and pointed it at the man who had attempted to shoot Kazuma. He took aim and fired. The man on the rooftop screamed as the bullet hit him.

"Crazy Gilgia man didn't understand the disadvantage he had when he fired a gun from lower ground." Sanada shouted to my brother who was still laughing.

"Haha... Haven't had this much action in a while." He shouted back before climbing into the helicopter where Rui and I pulled him up.

They were nuts...


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: The Base**

We arrived at the Varion's underground base yesterday while I had fallen asleep in the helicopter, exhausted from all the chaos. I had no idea where we were.

When I woke up, I found myself in a room with grey coloured walls and dim lighting. Someone had changed me into a set of pyjamas; I hoped it was a guy.

There were no windows and many double-decker beds were arranged in a row. The bed I was lying on, and the two beds beside it, however, were single-decker beds. The room was empty of people, apart from me. However, I could hear a lot of noise coming from outside the door.

When I opened the sliding door, there were people staring at me in every direction.

"Must be the pyjamas." I thought and rubbed my eyes.

Out of nowhere, Rui ran towards me and hugged me tightly, lifting me off the ground.

"Akira! Great to see you're fine and awake sleepyhead." He put me down and grinned widely at me.

I returned the smile and noticed that the people around were _still_ staring. This room was a very big room, with doors leading to different rooms at every corner. It must be the gathering area.

"Akira. Feeling better?" I looked towards one of the doors on the right and saw Kazuma walking in, followed be Sanada.

"Boss! Sanada-sama!" Everyone greeted the two who had just walked in with respect.

"Nii-san!" I ran towards him and jumped into his already open arms.

He hugged me before facing me towards the people who stared at us with worried looks. I wonder why?

"That's the boss' brother?"

"Doesn't look anything like the boss."

"Is it even okay for him to hug the boss just like that?"

The people started to murmur. I shifted backwards a step and looked down at my feet.

"Listen up! This boy here is my younger brother Akira. If you have a problem with that, then I request that you leave." Kazuma barked with a firm tone.

I felt my face go red. I was completely out of place.

My brother's hand was placed around my shoulder and I looked up at him to see him smiling at me.

"I need to, erm, go to the... toilet..." I muttered before running off.

"The toilet's over the other side." I heard Sanada shout as I ran back into the room I woke up in and sliding the door shut behind me.

A knock on the door made me jump and I turned to look at the door.

"Hey Akira, what's wrong?" My brother came in and I saw him gesture to Sanada not to follow.

He closed the door and walked over to me.

I was curled up on the bed that I woke up on. As he sat down on the bed next to me, I shifted to one side. He looked at me in silence while I buried my head in between my knees and folded arms.

"Akira..." He began to say while lifting my face up, and then stopped when he saw the tears in my eyes.

He moved to pat me on the head and smiled gently.

"You're not comfortable here, are you?" He asked me gently.

I quickly shook my head and looked away.

"I've known you since you were born, you can't hide anything from me. You're lying..." Kazuma said, still very softly.

I looked at him for a second before I quickly curled back up into a tighter ball, hiding my head again. He sighed and I felt his hand on my shoulder.

Suddenly, he picked me up and carried me out the door.

"Nii-san! Let me down! Put me down! Nii-san!" I whined.

Sanada looked at us, trying to muffle his laughter. The Varion members, who were staring just now, stared even harder now.

My face turned a dark shade of red.

"I'm not putting you down until you tell me what's wrong." Kazuma said firmly to me.

I struggled to get down, but my brother was way stronger than me.

"Nii-san. Let me down. Please..." I pleaded as my tears started to run again.

"I told you, I'm not letting you down until you tell me what's wrong." He replied gently.

I was already so confused and relieved when I got here, so much so that the mixed feelings in me threatened to explode since I woke up and I couldn't hold it in anymore.

I started to cry.

I made an attempt to wipe my tears off, but they kept flowing down my face. As I cried, started to hiccup and I completely gave up on struggling.

"Akira..." Kazuma sighed before putting me down and hugging me. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to threaten you like that, but I was so worried about you and you wouldn't tell me what was troubling you... Sorry. I won't ask you anymore. Stop crying, kay?"

He tried to comfort me while wiping my tears away. I rubbed my eyes and sniffed, nodding my head.

"I don't know what I should do to return to those times long ago. I won't bother you with that question anymore. Sorry." Kazuma said as he ruffled my hair.

"I'm sorry too... It's just that I'm just very confused and lost, but I'm also so relieved at the same time. All my feelings are in a mess and I just couldn't take it... I haven't seen you in 9 years, and now you appear as the boss of a mafia group that had kidnapped you. I... I don't know what to do..." I struggled to explain to my brother as I continued to cry.

He patted my head and smiled, "Don't worry, nothing is going to change. Sure some things are different. But I will protect you. I promised, remember?"

I nodded before jumping up to hug him.

"Can't believe you made your little brother cry..." Sanada said as he walked towards us.

Kazuma punched him in the shoulders as he continued, "Although I've never heard you say out loud that you will protect somebody. That's really rare. Never seen you so gentle before."

He looked like he was trying very hard not to burst out laughing.

I smiled and said, "Nii-san was always like this when we were younger!"

Kazuma smacked me gently on my head and I burst out laughing.

"What's the joke?" I turned to look at the same doorway that Kazuma and Sanada had come in from earlier.

Rukia, Hikaru and Kakeru stood by the doorway smiling; behind them were the rest of the students. Rui had joined them. I smiled before running towards them with a wide smile on my face. I was so glad that they were all safe.

"What about the rest of the students at school?" I asked worriedly after I had hugged Rukia and Hikaru. I hugged Rui again.

"They're all fine. The Varion did a great job of protecting them and chasing the Gilgia away." Kakeru replied, smiling.

I sighed and flopped down onto the ground in relief.

Everyone started to laugh, including some of the people who were originally staring.

"Boss, what are we going to do now?" Sanada asked Kazuma as they walked towards us.

"We wait. That's all." He replied as calmly as before.

Rui stepped forward to look Kazuma in the eye and said, "I'm sorry I didn't believe that it was you when Akira first mentioned it... Boss." Rui grinned at my rather shocked brother.

"Boss? Wait, you can't be serious. You want to join us?" He asked Rui in surprise.

"Well, kind of. We can't exactly go back and we're going to be living here for a while. Plus you _are_ the boss of the Varion mafia group who just saved us. So, calling you boss is only appropriate right?" Rui explained and the rest of my friends smiled.

My brother smiled before placing his arm around my shoulder to hug me closer beside him. I grinned at all of them.


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: The Visitor**

A few days passed since we first arrived at the base. Rui and Rukia had told their parents that they had a school immersion programme overseas and would not be back so soon. Hikaru, Kaoru, Kakeru and Chitose decided to stay as well, so they used that alibi too. Ikari and the other top 10 students had insisted on going home and were sent home by escorts two days ago.

Those who stayed were me, Rui, Rukia, Hikaru, Kaoru, Kakeru and Chitose. I asked Kaoru, Kakeru and Chitose why they wanted to stay even thought they had no connection to the mafia. They said it was interesting...

Today the base was completely silent as most of the Varion members had gone out for a mission and would not be back till evening. The remaining few of us had decided to help clean up the base since we had nothing else to do. We were not allowed to follow them on missions and had to stay in the base. Rui and Rukia had offered to clean the kitchen and cook the meals for everyone in the Varion mafia. I had offered to sweep the place and we were cleaning the whole base till evening.

"Get the first aid kit!" Sanada ordered as he swung entered the base.

I turned around and saw him injured, supporting my brother who was bleeding badly.

"Nii-san!" I shouted worriedly and ran towards them.

"I'm fine... Just a little injury..." He forced a smile and patted me on the head once before Sanada carried him to a room.

Hikaru and I ran to get the first aid kits.

I headed to the room to help my brother and Sanada clean dress their injuries. Rui followed behind me with a pail of clean water and fresh towels.

"I'll leave the two of them to you. I'm going to help Hikaru with the other injured members outside." Rui told me quickly before leaving the room.

I dipped a towel into the pail of water and then wrung it dry. I took off my brother's shirt gently before wiping off the blood on him.

Following that, I turned to help Sanada, but he mumbled, "Help the boss first..."

I looked at him for a minute before smiling and quickly turning back to attend to my brother. As I watched his sleeping face silently, his wounds caught my eyes. He was so badly hurt.

As gently as I could, I wiped his wounds clean before taking a few rolls of bandages from the first aid kit and starting to bandage up his wounds. After I was done, I turned to Sanada and helped him get cleaned up, dressing his wounds as well. His wounds weren't too serious and only took me a few minutes. After I was done, I left the room to let them sleep and joined Rui and Hikaru outside, helping the rest of the members.

The next day, we were serving breakfast which Rui and Rukia had prepared for everyone. I had asked Rui if I could cook two bowls of porridge for my brother and Sanada since it would be a lot easier to eat. He smiled and left me to cook for the two of them while he and Rukia cooked the rest.

I carried the two bowls of porridge into the room and found Sanada already awake, sitting up with the pillow supporting him behind.

I smiled and handed him one of the bowls of porridge while cautioning him, "It's quite hot, be careful not to burn yourself."

"Thanks!" He smiled in return and began to blow at his porridge.

I looked at my brother, still sleeping peacefully, and walked over to his bed. I placed the bowl of porridge on the bed-side table and touched Kazuma's head gently.

"Nii-san, wake up. It's time to eat breakfast." I whispered to him.

His eyes slowly flutter open and I grinned at him.

"Akira..." He said in a low voice before wincing in pain.

I laughed softly before helping him sit up, putting a pillow behind him to support him.

"Here, you should eat something. You didn't eat dinner last night so you're probably hungry."

I picked up the bowl and sat down beside him. Scooping up some porridge and blowing to cool it down, I held out the spoon to him. He looked at me with his head cocked to one side.

"You're feeding me?" He asked.

I simply smiled and held the spoon to his mouth.

He had finished almost half of the porridge when he asked me, "You cooked this didn't you?"

I tilted my head before nodding and asking, "Well, porridge is easier to swallow compared to noodle and eggs. Does it taste bad?"

He grinned and then said, "It tastes exactly like it did when we were younger. Every time I fell sick or got injured, you would insist on Aine-san letting you cook porridge for me and feeding it to me like this."

I heard Sanada chuckle behind me, "It's hard to imagine anyone taking care of the boss like that. He's always the one that takes care of us."

My brother and I both looked at each other and started to laugh.

"Akira! Hey Akira! We need help to wash up in the kitchen!" Hikaru shouted as he barged into the room.

I handed the bowl over to my brother and stared unhappily at Hikaru. Sanada and my brother both chuckled as Hikaru dragged me out by the arm.

"Ah... I'll come get the bowls later... See you, Sanada-san, Nii-san!" I said as the door closed.

I turned to pout at Hikaru, "You didn't have to drag me out..."

Hikaru burst out laughing, "Well, sorry if I interrupted your time with your beloved Onii-san."

I punched him playfully in the shoulders before running ahead of him to the kitchen.

While I was washing the last few plates, Kakeru shouted from the base's main door, "Akira! There's someone here to see you. He says he knows you and your brother."

I put the plate that I was washing down and ran out of the kitchen. Who could it be? And how would they know we're here?

When I caught sight of Kakeru, the person behind him left me stunned...

"Hey Akira..." The boy with the purple hair and bright green eyes smiled.

"Jun..." I mumbled.

It really was Jun! I couldn't believe it! Jun was standing right in front of me.

I immediately pulled him in and dragged him to the room where Sanada and my brother were resting.

I knocked twice on the door before sliding it open and shouting, "Nii-san! It's Jun! He's here!"

My brother looked at me before looking at Jun, who was standing beside me.

"Wow... You've really grown since we last saw you." Kazuma chuckled.

Jun smiled sweetly when Sanada commented how cute he was. By then, there were people crowding outside the door, looking in on the commotion.

"Heard you got hurt in a mafia fight... Tough being boss huh?" Jun asked Kazuma.

"Haha, I guess. Word must have travelled fast if you already heard about it. Really, really fast since you live in Europe." My brother laughed.

It had been 10 years since we last saw Jun. The amazing thing about Jun is that he is the boss of the Recca mafia group that is based in Europe.

"So what brings you back to Japan?" Kazuma enquired.


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: The Challenge**

"Who's the new guy?" Hikaru asked politely.

"His name is Jun Shirogane." I explained.

"Shirogane? You mean he is related to you two?" Rui interrupted curiously.

Kazuma turned to look at Rui and explained, "He is our cousin. His father and my father are brothers. Jun is 17 and he's the boss of the Recca mafia group, which is based in Europe. The Recca mafia group has very close ties with the Varion mafia group since the two of us, who are the bosses, are related. Hard to find any mafia bosses who are related by blood. Not many people want to have anything to do with the mafia, even more so, people from the same family if you get my drift."

"I'm here on a very important mission. I'll get straight to the point." Jun stated immediately.

In a very business-like tone, Jun continued, "The thing is, the Recca mafia group needs the help of the Varion mafia group. It's crucial that we get as much aid as possible."

My brother struggled to sit up and I hurried over to support him.

"Let's hear it. We need the details if we're going to help. Although, you can probably guess what my answer would be. I can't abandon a friend in need, even more so, family." Kazuma told Jun after he sat up, with two pillows behind him.

"The rest of you, please leave us for a while. Akira, you stay here." Kazuma said before patting the space on the bed beside him, motioning for me to sit down. Jun proceeded to sit on the chair in between Sanada's bed and my brother's bed.

Jun looked down at his feet for a short while before starting to explain his situation. "Actually, I tried asking the other mafia groups in Europe that we had ties with for help. However, all of them turned me down. Just last month, the Recca mafia group got into a huge mafia fight and lost many of our men. Not long after, we received a challenge from an enemy mafia group. The letter was marked with a skull, so I suspect the challenge is from the Gioreno mafia group..."

He paused to stare at us with worry and anxiety in his eyes.

"Gioreno, huh... I heard they not only have the numbers, but countless developed weapons. And to top it all off, they've won almost every fight they've been into..." Sanada thought out loud.

"This could be trouble..." Kazuma sighed.

"Let me continue." Jun said. "Anyway, there's no way the Recca mafia group can defeat them alone. The challenge is due to happen next month. You know what a challenge means. It's an all out fight, in other words, a life and death matter for the bosses, which is why I came all the way to Japan to request your help. Think about it, the Varion mafia group is twice the size of the Recca's, and we're really down on numbers now. I really need your help..." Jun pleaded.

My brother looked like he was deep in thought, so I asked Jun, "So, basically, you need more people to help defeat the Gioreno mafia group?"

Jun nodded and I immediately picked up my cell phone.

"What are you doing Akira?" Kazuma looked at me, puzzled.

"Calling Dad." I grinned.

"... Got it. Thanks Dad. Bye!" I hung up and kept my phone in my pocket.

I turned to Jun and beamed, "You've got yourself an army."

Jun, Sanada and Kazuma stared at me with bewildered faces.

A chuckle escaped my lips and I explained, "Dad contacted me a few years ago, caught me totally by surprise. He told me to call him if I started to get involved with something like the mafia. At first I got really agitated and confused. After all, I've already had a bad experience with the mafia once before. Dad said that he hoped I wouldn't get caught up in it but it might not turn out that way. Of course, I didn't believe him then at all."

I took a breath of air before continuing, "Both you and Nii-san know that dad used to be a boss of a mafia group until he met mom and got married. Well, I only found out recently. Anyway, dad has friends in the mafia who are bosses of their own mafia groups, about 8 of them. So I asked if we could request for their aid in the fight. Dad said he'll ask and told me to meet up with one of his old friend. Apparently, his friend is now in Japan and is the boss of his own mafia group. Dad said he would very likely agree to help us. So yeah..."

Kazuma stared at me wide-eyed. "You still keep in contact with dad and mom?" He asked me softly.

I could see that he really missed them. In his eyes, there was a hint of loneliness.

"Don't worry. It seems dad knows you're alive and kicking. Plus, even though he may not be in the mafia now, he still has connections. He knows that you've become the Varion mafia boss for quite a while and he's really proud of you! He just told me that over the phone when I told him I'm with you now." I smiled at my brother and patted his head just like he always did when I felt down.

"Thanks Akira." Both Kazuma and Jun said as I beamed happily.

The next day, we were sitting silently in the room when Rukia came in.

"Akira, there's a scary blonde guy outside asking to meet you..." She said.

I glanced at Jun and my brother before I nodded. Both Jun and I supported Kazuma as we walked to the main entrance of the base.

A man with greenish-yellow eyes, smoking a cigarette, was leaning on the side of the doorway with his arms folded.

"Is there something you want?" Kazuma addressed the man.

"Is that the way you talk to someone who is older than you? Rude little punk..." He grinned and spat the cigarette out.

"You don't look that much older than us. Erm, so who're you sir?" I asked the man politely.

"Boss of the Cilia mafia group. I'm thirty six just so you know. That's beside the point though. Kyou-chan asked me to come here to aid the Varion and Recca. So, where's his little one Akira?" Kyou-chan was probably how he addressed my father, Kyoutaro Shirogane.

I smiled and replied politely, "That's me. Thanks for offering your help, Mr..." I paused since I had no idea how to address him.

He knocked me on the head gently, saying, "Not Mr, it sounds too old. Just call me Reon. Got it?"

"Yes, erm, Reon." I answered.

He didn't seem that scary. In fact, I found him quite friendly and sociable.

"Why don't we go inside?" Kazuma said as he pointed to the sitting area.

"Don't mind if I do." Reon said with a smile as we headed inside.


	20. Chapter 19

_It starts to get a little confusing with all the new characters here so I'll try to provide a summary of all the mafia groups so far at the bottom of the page. Hope it helps~ ^^_

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 19: The Bosses <span>**

Two days had passed since Reon showed up. More of dad's friends, the mafia bosses, showed up. They were all different and very unique, in their own way.

A few hours after Reon arrived, a 21 year old girl with purple hair jumped through the entrance when one of the Varion men opened it to throw away the garbage. Her name is Shiori and she is the boss of the Riomia mafia group. She was mostly silent, unless we had a discussion or she needed to ask a question. She was dad's junior in the past.

I never knew girls could actually be bosses and control their own mafia... Kind of cool... Not like those in school, they were just noisy and hopeless...

The next to make his appearance was a 26 year old man with grey hair that brushed his shoulders. His arrival had really given us all a shock. He barged in while we were all seated on the couches in a silence-filled room. He suddenly shouted something like, "Yo! Sei has arrived! The one and only Diaron mafia boss!"

He was quite intimidating as he did things at his own fast and random pace; however, he was pretty friendly. He had very, I mean very, random flip outs. He would suddenly change mood from happy-go-lucky to angry or laughing to being annoyed. Apparently he's Reon's junior and knew my father.

The next day, the Gavion mafia boss arrived at the Varion base. He introduced himself very formally as Kei, Reon's and dad's good friend. He was the silent and cool type who controlled the people under him through respect.

Kei had purple hair which fell to his chest and one of his eyes was covered by his fringe. His dressing was rather interesting though; he wore clothes that looked heavy with a cloak draped loosely around him. He was the one year older than Reon.

When he arrived, Reon immediately shouted happily, "Kei-chan! I missed you so much!"

I guess friends in the mafia can be very close too, just like dad, Reon and Kei.

Soon after, a girl in a samurai looking outfit showed up. She was the boss of the Kyonon mafia group and 5 years Shiori's senior. The both of them were partners in training not too long ago. She had her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail and held a spear in her right hand. She introduced herself as Yui and she was a very outgoing and sociable person. Although, when she's angry, you might want to keep out of the way. It's not a very smart idea to make her angry.

Then earlier today, an older looking man, with an eye patch over his right eye and his grey hair tied back in a long ponytail, made his appearance. I swear I had no idea he was there until he cleared his throat loudly enough for us to hear.

Reon chuckled and had said, "Yo, Jii-san. I see you haven't been knocked out yet."

He introduced himself as Genma, a 48 year old man, and was Reon's, Kyo's, and dad's senior. He was the boss of the Sineon mafia group. Genma gave Reon an earful shortly after.

The next boss to make his appearance was the boss of the Torai mafia group. His name was Ren and he was 28 years old. He was very dashing and some of the girls in the mafia groups immediately fell for him. Ren was very close to my father ten years ago when he was saved from a near death experience by my father. He was only 18 then, and was still schooling.

A young looking girl was following closely behind him. I later found out her name was Kiara, the young Kongure mafia boss. She was only 17 but was already a boss, just like Jun. She shared with us that her father was the previous boss but was badly injured in a fight and could no longer be in the mafia; so she took over the boss title. Ren had been supporting Kiara ever since then, and they were quite close.

Ren had greyish-silver hair while Kiara had short brown hair. Kiara wore a brown kimono that was above her knees. She said it was so she could move around more conveniently.

Despite the difference they had in terms of looks, you could mistake them for siblings from the way Ren took care of Kiara.

Including Jun, the boss of the Recca mafia group, and Kazuma, the boss of the Varion mafia group, all the bosses had arrived and gathered. The bosses had a different aura surrounding them in comparison to the normal mafia members, even more so when compared to normal people. It somehow drew the curiosity of others.

And so, while the bosses discussed, Rui, Rukia, Hikaru, Kaoru, Kakeru, Chitose, and I would sit at the corner to watch them. I only approached them once before, when my brother had called for me. Kazuma had beckoned for me so that he could introduce me while they were on the topic of relatives in the mafia.

"This is my brother, Akira. And the other boy with brown hair and brown eyes is my cousin, Hikaru. They're not part of the mafia so please do not get them involved in any way. I repeat, do _not_ involve them. They have to be protected during the fights, and hopefully not get dragged in. I was hoping we could discuss security in the base while we're at it?" Kazuma had said before pushing me back gently.

I smiled before running back to sit in between Rui and Hikaru. It was at times like this when I felt completely useless, which was relatively normal for any normal boy... I was now far from normal...

Two more weeks passed since all the bosses arrived and only a week more before the fight, which would take place here in Japan, as stated. Even as the bosses prepared, I couldn't help but feel slightly afraid and nervous.

I watched silently as Jun took charge and all of them started to plan their strategies for the challenge with the Gioreno mafia group. Even Shiori and Kiara participated in the planning. The rest of my friends were around the base, helping with the chores.

As Jun ran through the plan for the second time, I couldn't see why anyone wouldn't admire him. He was young but amazing enough to be in charge of his own mafia group.

"Akira! We need some help in the kitchen." Rui tugged at my sleeve.

"Mmm, okay." I took one last glance at my brother before heading to the kitchen.

* * *

><p><em>I wanted to include many different characters with their own unique personalities, so the 8 bosses were created~ Personally, I think that the favourites out of all 8 are Kei, Ren, Yui and Reon.<br>Kei is the cool type.  
>Ren is the prince type.<br>Yui is the mature yet frightening(when she's angry) type.  
>Reon is the happy-go-lucky yet sensitive type. 3<br>Jun isn't one of the 8 but he's awesome too~ He is the sensible type.  
>My friend likes Sei, cos he's the crazy mood swings type. Haha~<em>

**_Mafia groups so far (Boss, age)_**

_Varion (Kazuma, 17)_  
><em>Recca (Jun, 17)<em>  
><em>Torai (Ren, 28)<em>  
><em>Cilia (Reon, 36)<em>  
><em>Riomia (Shiori, 21)<em>  
><em>Kongure (Kiara,17)<em>  
><em>Kyonan (Yui, 26)<em>  
><em>Gavion (Kei, 37)<em>  
><em>Diaron (Sei, 26)<em>  
><em>Sineon (Genma, 48)<em>  
><em>Gilgia<em>  
><em>Gioreno<em>


	21. Chapter 20

_This is pretty random, but I really like the characters Akira and Kazuma~ 3 I hope you do too! ^^ _

* * *

><p><strong><span>Chapter 20: The Battle<span>**

Everyone was already awake and getting ready for the 'Gioreno Challenge' at 5 in the morning. I rubbed my eyes sleepily and looked at the table clock. This was one of the earliest I've ever gotten out of bed...

"Ugh..." I kicked the cover sheets away as I got out of bed and walked out of the room.

All the bosses were gathered outside the room and preparing their weapons.

"BANG!" A gunshot rang out through the base; the bullet hit the room door that was beside the room I came out from. I stood there unable to move, stunned by the gunshot.

"You idiot! Who on earth fires a gun in an enclosed space with so many people around?" Genma hollered at Reon and punched him on the head.

I tried to hold back my chuckle, but apparently failed.

Everyone turned to look at me. It seemed that no one had noticed I was there.

"Look at that, sleeping beauty has awakened." Reon teased as he rubbed his head in the spot where Genma had whacked him.

"What sleeping beauty? I'm just not a morning person..." I hastily replied, blushing a bright shade of red. "I'm going to help Rui and the others prepare breakfast..." I said as I ran hurriedly to the kitchen.

By 7am, the bosses had eaten breakfast and were heading to the training ground.

The training ground was humongous and extremely spacious. That was where all the mafia groups would assemble, bosses and all members.

As Kazuma was about to head to the training ground, he turned to look at me and smile. I was about to smile when a tear escaped from my eye. My brother stared at me in astonishment. As soon as I noticed, I looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm fine... It's nothing, why am I even crying? Dammit..." I tried to stop the tears from flowing.

Kazuma walked towards me and wiped my tears away. "I know you're worried. Don't worry too much. I'm a mafia boss after all. Plus I got the elites of the Varion mafia group to guard all of you and the base while we fight. Don't _ever_ leave the base, okay? I will keep protect you like I promised I would."

He patted me on my head and smiled before running out of the base, and towards the training ground.

Rui was standing at the base's main entrance and staring out at the sky.

I quietly approached him and asked, "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing in particular. Just thinking how we were all regular students a month ago, and now we're involved with the mafia..." He turned to look at my face, then chuckled, "Wonder what my parent's reaction would be if I told them we're in the mafia?"

I forced a smile so as not to spoil the mood. Rui saw right through me.

"No need to pretend in front of me. I've known you since we were little kids." He patted my head and said, "You're worried sick aren't you? Cry if you want, there's no one else around."

The barrier I built up around me came crashing and I hugged Rui tightly as I cried till my eyes were dry.

I couldn't stop worrying about my brother, Jun, and every single one of the bosses.

As we were doing the regular chores, elites from the Varion mafia could be seen patrolling the base. This made me even more uneasy.

In the past, I had read on the internet about the different mafia groups before. There was an article on very dangerous mafia groups, and one of them caught my eye. The Gioreno mafia group. They were notorious for never losing even one fight. Not even against a bigger mafia.

I couldn't just wait here, not knowing whether my brother will come back fine, badly injured, or whether he'll even come back at all. Finally, I threw down the laundry I was holding and grabbed the gun my brother gave me in case of an emergency.

During this time, there wasn't anyone in the kitchen. Everyone was doing chores somewhere else. I ran to the kitchen and opened the high window as quietly as possible; looking around to make sure the coast was clear. When I was sure no one would see me or hear me, I climbed through the window and out. The window was quite high up in the kitchen, however, on the other side, the ground was right beneath the window. I had forgotten we were underground. A grass patch was under my feet as soon as I crawled out the window.

It was a good thing I overheard the bosses talking about the location for the battle a few times before and knew roughly where it was. Without a second's delay, I ran towards the big field near the border of the town.

I had a feeling that I was being followed, however, every time I turned around, there was nobody. Maybe I was just guilty for leaving the base without telling anyone. So I dismissed it as my bizarre imagination.

As I neared the field where the fight was taking place, I clenched the gun in my pocket tightly.

"I might have to use it", the thought ran through my head and sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't imagine killing someone.

As I got closer, I could hear screaming, clanging of weapons, and gunshots. The sounds were frightening and as I caught sight of a big tree towards the right, I ran to hide behind it. I could see the fight from here.

I scanned through the mass of people and spotted Sei and Yui. They were badly injured. Shiori, Ren, Kiara and Genma suffered a few wounds. Kei and Reon were both panting for breath and other mafia members, from both mafia groups, lying lifelessly on the ground in pools of blood. Where was Kazuma? Why couldn't I see him? Where was he?

Then I heard a bang and my breath got caught in my throat.

I identified the man who had red markings on his body as the Gioreno mafia boss. He had a sly smirk on his face and still had his gun trained on my brother. Kazuma was shot in the shoulder and blood gushed out from his wound.

My stomach lurched and I almost screamed. Luckily I held it back just in time. No one knew I was here, which meant that I had the advantage of surprise.

I took the gun out slowly from my pocket, as silently as possible and aimed it at the man.

My own safety and the danger that I would be in if I was found was forgotten. All I had in mind was that I can't let him shoot my brother again.

He had yet to notice me and I silently took aim. I hesitated for a second before I swallowed a breath of air and pulled the trigger.

"BANG!" The bullet shot clean through the man's arm. I pulled the trigger again, firing the second bullet somewhere near his abdomen.

The Gioreno boss let out a blood-curdling scream and held his stomach before turning towards me. His revulsion and menace filled glare stunned me.

* * *

><p><em>Cliffhanger! Sorry for that. Haha don't kill me. I liked it a lot though. XP<em>


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21: The End?**

Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed me from behind and held me tightly. I tried to squirm out of his grasp but he only tightened his grip.

A cold metallic object was pushed to my back and I froze. As I stared ahead, I saw my brother's horror-stricken face.

I gulped as the metallic object was pressed harder against my back. I struggled to get free but he was holding on to me very firmly.

"Surrender quietly before I pull the trigger." The man behind me yelled.

Dammit. I'm going to cause everyone to lose.

I shut my eyes tightly and thought, "There's no way they're going to surrender. They won't just throw away their fight just for a boy. They're mafia bosses. They can't lose like that. They won't!"

I waited for the gun to fire and hoped that the mafia groups on our side would win; instead I heard the clanging of weapons on the ground. I hesitantly opened my eyes and saw the bosses dropping their guns and weapons, one by one. My brother was the first to drop his gun.

No... This can't be happening! Why were they surrendering?

"Nii-san! Don't you dare give up! Not now! Not ever!" I screamed before swinging my leg backwards and kicking the man behind me in his middle.

He screamed in pain and loosened his firm grip for a second. However, a second was all I needed.

I used my elbow to hit him in the stomach as hard as I could and picked up the gun that I had dropped. I turned and directed the gun at the Gioreno mafia boss' direction without aiming accurately. This time, I didn't hesitate. I pulled the trigger and the bullet grazed his arm. He screamed out in fury and held up his gun at me.

Everything happened so fast after that, it was all a blur.

My brother kicked the gun out of the man's hand and Jun, who was standing a few metres away, ran forward with a dagger and stabbed the Gioreno mafia boss in the chest.

There was a nerve-wrecking pause before he coughed out blood and clenched his teeth, swearing. He fell to the ground and the other Gioreno members, seeing this, fled the battlefield. The man I had elbowed was crawling away as well. We had won.

"Akira! You idiot! Why did you come here even after I told you not to leave the base?" Kazuma shouted after he picked up his gun from the ground.

I could tell he was both furious and extremely relieved. I was about to reply when I saw a glint in the Gioreno boss hands. It couldn't be... He wasn't dead yet!

"Nii-san, watch..." I was about to warn my brother when three loud bangs echoed through the air.

I felt three distinctive sharp pains in my chest and fell backwards onto the ground with a gasp.

"Akira!" The people around me screamed.

Almost immediately, there was a warm hand on me. The hand belonged to someone who I can never forget, even if I tried.

"Nii-san..." I muttered before coughing out a warm red substance. Blood.

He had positioned himself so that I was leaning against his arm. My breaths grew heavier and my vision started to blur.

It seemed the bullet wasn't aimed at my brother like I thought it was, it was actually aimed at me... Even though I knew this only now, I was still relieved. At least I knew that Kazuma was safe... He would still live... They had won the mafia battle and all the bosses were fine. Maybe injured, but they were all alive...

It felt like my life was draining out of me, along with the blood from the gunshot wounds. The warm blood trickled from my mouth to the ground.

"Akira! Don't you dare die! Look at me! Akira!" Kazuma shouted desperately, clasping my hand tightly.

The clouds in the sky drifted across the never-ending blue slowly, just like any other day.

The pain seemed like it was burning me from the inside.

My eyes wandered and I spotted a figure hiding in the distance. For some reason, a sense of relief washed over me. It could have been my imagination, but if that person in the distance was really who I thought it was, I was contented. At least the people I loved were all here.

Now I understand why people say that death is nothing to fear when your loved-ones are by your side, you feel at peace. Maybe Aine baa-san had felt relieved that we were going to live even when she died, just maybe.

"Akira! You said I can't give up right? That means you can't either! You _will not_ give up! I won't let you!" Kazuma cried, his voice cracking.

Does that mean I wouldn't see my brother, Rui, Rukia, Hikaru, and all my friends again?

Wait, friends? I never thought that the day would come when I would actually have friends, real friends other then Rui and Rukia. All the things we did and went through, especially Rui, Rukia and Kazuma Onii-san.

I used the last bit of the energy I had left to smile gently at my brother, Kazuma, one hand gripping his hand tightly, the other to pat him on his head. His smooth blond hair reminded me of our parents' hair. It was soft.

Tears ran down his cheeks when I smiled weakly. I patted him twice gently before my eyelids slowly drooped.

"Please, no...Don't leave me...Please..." Kazuma pleaded despairingly beside me.

"Gomen... Nii-san... I love you..." I mumbled before my hand that was patting his head fell to the ground and my everything disappeared from my sight.

My brother's voice continued to echo around me in the darkness.

"Akira! Akira! Akiraaaa!"

* * *

><p><em>This is the end of the first part of Inescapable Fate! I hope you enjoyed it and sorry for such a draggy story. ^^<em>


	23. Character Database

**Inescapable Fate Character Database**

Akira Shirogane

Age: 15-16  
>Age in the past: 6<br>Age in the future: 21  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese, and ¼ European  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High and High School<br>Year: Jr high 3/high sch 1  
>Top 10 guys ranking: 3<br>Hair colour: Brown  
>Eye colour: Oriental blue<br>Height: 159  
>Blood Type: AB<br>Birthday: 17 July

Rui Ryuuzaki

Age: 15-16  
>Age in the past: 6<br>Age in the future: 21  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High and High School<br>Year: Jr high 3/high sch 1  
>Top 10 guys ranking: 1<br>Relation to Akira: Best friend  
>Hair colour: Black<br>Eye colour: Brown  
>Height: 181<br>Blood Type: O  
>Birthday: 15 June<p>

Kazuma Shirogane

Age: 17-18  
>Age in the past: 8<br>Age in the future: 23  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese, and ¼ European  
>Relation to Akira: Elder brother<br>Hair colour: Blonde  
>Eye colour: Brown<br>Height: 185  
>Blood Type: A<br>Birthday: 5 November

Rukia Ryuuzaki

Age: 13-14  
>Age in the past: 4<br>Gender: Female  
>Race: Japanese<br>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High  
>Year: Jr high 1-2<br>Relation to Akira: Good friend  
>Hair colour: Blue<br>Eye colour: Brown  
>Height: 156<br>Blood Type: O  
>Birthday: 22 March<p>

Hikaru Fuji

Age: 15-16  
>Age in the past: 6<br>Age in the future: 21  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High and High School<br>Year: Jr high 3/high sch 1  
>Relation to Akira: FriendCousin  
>Top 10 guys ranking: 4<br>Hair colour: Brown  
>Eye colour: Brown<br>Height: 171  
>Blood Type: A<br>Birthday: 19 August

Jun Shirogane

Age: 17-18  
>Age in the past: 8<br>Age in the future: 23  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Half Japanese, Half European  
>Relation to Akira: Cousin<br>Hair colour: Purple  
>Eye colour: Greenish-yellow<br>Height: 169  
>Blood Type: A<br>Birthday: 30 September

Mei Yukimura

Age: 13  
>Gender: Female<br>Race: Japanese  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High<br>Year: Jr high 1-2  
>Relation to Akira: Friend<br>Hair colour: Brown  
>Eye colour: Grey<br>Height: 155  
>Blood Type: B<br>Birthday: 26 January

Kaoru Ishida

Age: 15-16  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Half Japanese, Half American  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High and High School<br>Year: Jr high 3/high sch 1  
>Relation to Akira: Friend<br>Top 10 guys ranking: 2  
>Hair colour: Blond<br>Eye colour: Green  
>Height: 179<br>Blood Type: AB  
>Birthday: 23 February<p>

Ikari Kanta

Age: 15-16  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High and High School<br>Year: Jr high 3/high sch 1  
>Relation to Akira: Enemy<br>Top 10 guys ranking: 5  
>Hair colour: Black<br>Eye colour: Grey  
>Height: 169<br>Blood Type: O  
>Birthday: 11 September<p>

Student Head: Kakurei Ichito

Age: 15  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High<br>Year: Jr high 3  
>Top 10 guys rank<br>Eye colour: Black  
>Height: 179<br>Blood Type: O  
>Birthday: 28 October<p>

Student Council President: Kakeru Kirihara

Age: 15-16  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High and High School<br>Year: Jr high 3/high sch 1  
>Top 10 guys ranking: 6<br>Hair colour: Brown  
>Eye colour: Grey<br>Height: 177  
>Blood Type: A<br>Birthday: 3 October

Student Council Vice-president: Chitose Yukiya

Age: 15  
>Gender: Male<br>Race: Japanese  
>School: Seishou Academy-Seishou Junior High<br>Year: Jr high 3  
>Top 10 guys ranking: 7<br>Hair colour: Brown  
>Eye colour: Brown<br>Height: 175  
>Blood Type: O<br>Birthday: 4 January

Kyoutaro Shirogane

Age: 39-40  
>Age in the past: 30<br>Gender: Male  
>Race: Half European, Half Japanese<br>Relation to Akira: Father  
>Hair colour: Blonde<br>Eye colour: Blue  
>Height: 193<br>Blood Type: AB  
>Birthday: 9 February<p>

Aine Fuji (Asamura)

Age: Deceased. If alive, 36  
>Age in the past: 27<br>Gender: Female  
>Race: Japanese<br>Relation to Akira: Aunt  
>Hair colour: Brown<br>Eye colour: Brown  
>Height: 167<br>Blood Type: A

* * *

><p><em>I had a lot of fun creating the characters and I really love them~ I hope you like them too! ^^<em>


End file.
